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VIRGIL'S ^NEID 

Books I-VI 

Davidson's Literal English Prose Translation 

Revised by 

T. A. BUCKLEY 



With a Brief Introduction by 
D. S. ELBON 



Translation Publishing Company, inc. 

31 West 15th Street New York City 






Copyright, 1915 

BY 

Translation Publishing Company, inc. 




)CI.A416905 (y- 



INTRODUCTION 



Few facts have been established concern- 
ing the early life of Publius Vergilius Maro, 
whom to-day the student knows as Virgil. 
From his own writings, from references 
made to these writings by his contempora- 
ries, and from the works of certain later 
writers — such as Valerius Probus (a.d. 
First Century), uElius Donatus (Fourth 
Century) and Servius (Fourth Century) — 
who comment specifically upon the life and 
works of the poet, Virgil's career can be 
traced by a few outstanding facts. Interest- 
ing biographical data have been set forth 
from time to time by modern writers, de- 
lighting the reader with glowing accounts 
of the poet's love for literary pursuits, his 
prodigious intellect, and his unfolding 
genius. As in the case of any great man, 
the possibilities are unlimited for developing 
reports of Virgil's public and private life, — 
from auspicious omens preceding his birth 

iii 



IV INTRODUCTION 

to the untimely end when the dying poet 
with his last words begged the Emperor 
Augustus to burn his Ztineid because \Lq 
manuscript was not yet finished. It is safe, 
however, to assume that details which we 
may find relating to the history of the man's 
life are more picturesque than proper. 

Virgil was born at Andes, a hamlet in 
Cisalpine Gaul, near Mantua, 70 B.C. The 
accounts of his parentage and early boyhood 
are sadly conflicting. Whatever may have 
been his father's actual occupation, or the 
true name of his mother, reports agree in 
that his origin was most humble. And 
further we know that though of the peasant 
class, the industry of his parents made it 
possible for the boy to receive a good educa- 
tion. Until his fifteenth year, Virgil studied 
at Cremona. From there he went to Milan, 
continuing his work; and later to Eome, 
returning to his home at the age of twenty- 
seven. The records of the period contain 
little information other than a bare mention 
of his studying, and that Greek, Philosophy, 
Medicine, Mathematics, and Law were the 
subjects in which he interested himself. 

The year 41 B.C. began his life of achieve- 
ment. Caesar murdered, and the republican 
faction defeated, Augustus and the Trium- 
virate required land for their disbanded 
army. An eviction of the peasants followed, 
among them Virgil's parents. Fortunately, 



INTRODUCTION V 

however, the officers of administration, 
Varus, Pollio, and Galhis were his friends; 
and they suggested that he go in person and 
plead the cause of the country-folk before 
the emperor. Virgil was unexpectedly suc- 
cessful. But his success, while accomplish- 
ing the immediate end of re-establishing 
his parents on their confiscated farm, at- 
tained for him the start which he seemed by 
nature to need. It gained for him a confi- 
dence in the world at large, and gave him 
a power in the belief that his views were 
shared by others. 

While Augustus is not an impressive 
figure in history, his legislative interest in 
his people achieved what Virgil was desir- 
ing. Though cruel and often repulsive, 
Augustus persisted in the same careful way 
in which he had won the throne, calculating 
his opportunities and taking advantage of 
every situation. Nevertheless the laws which 
he made to gain the sympathy of those whose 
support he required accomplished the things 
Virgil thought necessary. Each man be- 
cause of his personal views was strongly 
attracted to the other. It was a period of 
peace; men of letters were encouraged to 
develop their learning; the national religion 
was restored ; Greek refinement and culture 
were made to influence the rougher Latin 
civilization; and "Rome was recognized the 
center of all worldly power, Augustus' ac- 



VI INTRODUCTION 

ceptation of him as a man of letters, there- 
fore naturally stimulated and inspired Vir- 
gil to express and bring forward his own 
literary self . 

In 37 B.C. the Eclogues (Shepherd's 
Poems) were published. Written in imitation 
of the Idylls of Theocritus (275 B.C.), there 
is little to commend in point of literary form. 
The subject-matter, however, of the ten 
pieces gives marked evidence of Virgil's 
ability. The introduction of fields and skies, 
brooks, hills, stars, and shepherds, identify- 
ing Italian thought and feeling with foreign 
literary material, — produced a new individ- 
ual type in Latin literature. If it be remem- 
bered from this work that the terms of 
nature and the country-side were the terms 
in which the poet most naturally expressed 
himself, his seeming failure in the 2Enei& 
to give an adequate picture of the Heroic 
Age will be justified. 

In 30 B.C. the Oeorgics were published, a 
guide for farmers written in verse. A first 
book includes a discussion of the fields and 
crops; a second deals with trees and vines, 
especially olives and grapes; a third gives 
directions in cattle raising; and a fourth 
treats of bees. This, like the Eclogues was 
based upon a model, the Works And Days of 
Hesiod. The general subject-matter, how- 
ever, the Italian peasants and the Italian 
country, was directly in accord with the 



INTRODUCTION Vll 

poet's own temperament. And expressed in 
the hexameter verse form which he had now 
mastered so well, the work may be con- 
sidered his greatest production. 

The fflneid, published after the poet's 
death, 19 B.C., by his executors, Tucca and 
Varius, was undoubtedly begun at the sug- 
gestion of Augustus. Csesar Augustus and 
his father, Julius Caesar, had claimed always 
a direct descent from the goddess, Venus 
through ^Eneas, lulus, and the Julian gens. 
In the very opening lines of the poem we 
are made to understand, 

Arma virumque cano, Trojse qui primus ab 

oris 
Italiam fato profugus Lavinaque venit 
litora, multum ille et terris jactatus et alto 
vi superum s^vae memoreni Junonis ob iram, 
multa quoque et bello passus, dum conderet 

urbem 
inferretque, deos Latio, genus unde Latinum 
Albanique patres atque altse mcenia Romse. 

Through a contemplation of the hero's 
life, so presented — "ssevae memorem Junonis 
ob iram" — as to necessarily evoke sympathy, 
the reader is made to apprehend the full 
significance of what that hero accomplished. 
While the word, hero, in a poem perhaps 
immediately suggests the tragic, it must be 
realized that unless conditions are pictured 
which, acting together of themselves, will 
have a certain definite result, a causal re« 



Vlll INTRODUCTION 

lationship will be lost; and it is just this 
relationship of one event to another which 
gives unity and purpose to a piece. The 
hero in the iEneid is not heralded as a giant- 
killer, but as one who came from Troy to 
Italy, — u dum conderet urbem inferretque 
deos Latio"— . We do not expect, therefore, 
a story in which, child-like, our interest will 
center in the adventure of it. Sufficient 
emphasis is put upon the — multum ille et 
terris jactatus et alto vi superum" — so that 
being moved by each particular incident, 
the reader will appreciate the situation fully, 
and will therefore be inspired by the hero's 
success. The balance of feeling lies not with 
the man, himself, but with our admiration 
for the things he did. Augustus' main am- 
bition was to glorify Eome and the culmina- 
ting of its achievement under his rule. 

Virgil spent eleven years it is believed, 
writing the 2Eneid. First the sequence of 
the events was traced in prose, and divided 
into twelve books; then the poet began his 
task of transposing this subject-matter into 
verse form. A conception of how faithfully 
he must have worked and how studiously he 
must have placed each word in its proper 
order, may be reached if we stop to think 
that his progress averaged but three lines a 
day. At this time, Virgil probably resided 
on the estate that had been given him near 
Naples by the emperor. In retirement he 



INTRODUCTION IX 

had the opportunity of developing his poem 
according to the high ideals which he had 
established for himself. When the poem was 
almost finished, Virgil started upon a trip 
to Greece, where he expected the invigora- 
tion from the change in country would put 
him in a mood to effectively revise the manu- 
script. His health, however, was failing 
him. At Athens he met Augustus returning 
from the East; and the emperor persuaded 
his friend to travel back with him to Italy. 
The voyage proved fatal ; for overcome by 
the raw sea air, Virgil became weaker and 
weaker. He died at Brundisium. His sud- 
den death left the work uncompleted ; except, 
however, for certain rougher lines that did 
not receive the poet's final polish, there is 
little need of a further revision. 

Like the poet's earlier works, the 2Eneid 
bears evidence of the author's dependence 
upon foreign models. The first six books 
are not so very unlike the Odyssey of Homer 
[relating of the wanderings of Odysseus or 
Ulysses]. iEneas' voyage from Troy to 
Dido's court is similar to Ulysses' wander- 
ings before he reached the land of the 
Phaecians ; iEneas like Ulysses descends into 
the lower world; and each of the heroes 
encounters Polyphemus, the Cyclops. The last 
six books show their author's familiarity 
with the Iliad [describing Achilles and the 
close of the war]. iEneas' shield cor- 



X INTRODUCTION 

responds to that of Achilles; the enrollment 
of the Italian host agrees with Homer's 
record of the Greek ships; finally, Eneas' 
struggle with Turnus for the possession of 
Lavinia is the counterpart of the fight be- 
between Achilles and Hector when Helen is 
the prize. In matters of essential fact, the 
Greek influence is felt throughout the 
JEneid. 

Yet, however great may seem this resem- 
blance between the 2Enexd and the works of 
Homer, there is really little ground common 
to the two writers. Homer related a tale of 
events concerning which he had a direct 
knowledge; while the Latin writer, desiring 
to tell of a man who took part in these 
events, drew naturally upon the Greek ac- 
count as his source of history. Homer's 
efforts were not spent in seeking literary 
achievement but in telling a story. Virgil's 
purpose, on the other hand, was scholarly. 
He planned a history for the Latin people 
to inspire them with their present success 
through a consideration of the past. Until 
Julius Caesar's day there had been no cul- 
ture in Europe worthy of the name except 
Greek culture. Obviously if Eoman Society 
was to glory in itself and its ancestors, its 
traditions would necessarily have to lead 
back to the source of all culture, Greece. 
Augustus' claim that the name Julius, itself, 
came from lulus (iEneas' Son), manifested 



INTRODUCTION XI 

this desire of the Romans to show their con- 
nection with the Greeks. Yet the Eomans in 
their highly organized state wanted to go 
still further; they wanted to glorify the 
superiority of their development. Hence we 
have the — "inferretque deos Latio." 

Virgil's familiarity with the splendor of 
the Heroic Age was a borrowed one. The 
fields and the crops, the cattle and the bees 
were his natural themes. The JEneid, how- 
ever, is not plagiarized if viewed sympathetic- 
ally from the author's standpoint. There 
were the facts, a matter of history, and 
Virgil set about telling them to the best of 
his ability. It is possible to attach the 
stigma to his descriptions of fights and 
battles that they do not thrill the reader. 
But at the same time it is impossible to 
avoid praising his account of the storms, the 
landscapes, the courts, and the people. It 
must be borne in mind that while Homer's 
words recount the experiences of the Greeks, 
and the hero is the subject of interest at all 
times, Virgil's writing, in contrast, is made 
to hold up a glass, as it were, in which Rome 
might see itself and, being pleased with the 
reflection, might rest satisfied in the con- 
templation of it. 

Words cannot describe how great was the 
poet's ability to accomplish the work which 
he undertook, or how well the finished poem 
has succeeded in its appeal. The thought, 



Xll INTRODUCTION 

however, may be perceived in the lines of 
Dante's DelV Inferno, 

"I long with zeal 
Have sought thy volume, and with love im- 
mense 
Have conn'd it o'er. My master, thou, and 

guide I 
He, from whom alone I have derived 
That style, which for its beauty into fame 
Exalts me." 



VIRGIL'S ^ENEID 



BOOK I 

The subject of the JEneid is the settlement of iEneas in 
Italy. This noble Poem, on the composition of which 
Virgil was engaged eleven years, consists of twelve 
books, and comprehends a period of eight years. In 
the First Book, the hero is introduced, in the seventh 
year of his expedition, sailing from Sicily, and ship- 
wrecked upon the coast of Africa, where he is kindly 
received by Dido, queen of Carthage. The description 
of the storm in this book is particularly admired. 

Arms I sing, and the hero, who first, 
exiled by fate, came from the coast of Troy 
to Italy, and the Lavinian shore : much was 
he tossed both on sea and land, by the power 
of those above, on account of the unrelent- 
ing rage of cruel Juno : much too he suffered 
in war till he founded a city, and brought 
his gods into Latium : from whence the 
Latin progeny, the Alban fathers, and the 
walls of lofty Eoaie. 

Declare to me, Muse ! the causes, in 
what the deity being offended, by what the 
queen of heaven was provoked to drive a 
man of distinguished piety to struggle with 
so many calamities, to encounter so many 
3 



4 virgil's ^eneid. book i [10-30 

hardships. Is there such resentment in 
heavenly minds? 

An ancient city there was, Carthage, (in- 
habited by a colony of Tyrians,) fronting 
Italy and the mouth of the Tiber, far re- 
mote; vast in riches, and extremely hardy 
in warlike exercises; which [city] Juno is 
said to have honored more than any other 
place of her residence, Samos being set 
aside. Here lay her arms; here was her 
chariot; here the goddess even then designs 
and fondly hopes to establish a seat of uni- 
versal empire, would only the Fates permit. 
But she had heard of a race to be descended 
from Trojan blood, that was one day to over- 
turn the Tyrian towers : that hence a people 
of extensive regal sway, and proud in war, 
would come to the destruction of Libya: so 
the destinies ordained. This the daughter 
of Saturn dreading, and mindful of the old 
war which she had the principal hand in 
carrying on before Troy, in behalf of her 
beloved Argos; nor as yet were the causes 
of her rage and keen resentment worn out 
of her mind; the judgment of Paris dwells 
deeply rooted in her soul, the affront offered 
to her neglected beauty, the detested [Tro- 
jan] race, and the honors conferred on 
ravished Ganymede: she, by these things 
fired, having tossed on the whole ocean the 
Trojans, whom the Greeks and merciless 
Achilles had left, drove them far from La- 



31-51] virgil's ^eneid. book i 5 

tium; and thus, for many years, they, driven 
by fate, roamed round every sea: so vast a 
work it was to found the Eoman state. 

Scarcely had the Trojans, losing sight of 
Sicily, with joy launched out into the deep, 
and were plowing the foaming billows with 
their brazen prows, when Juno, harboring 
everlasting rancor in her breast, thus with 
herself: Shall I then, baffled, desist from 
my purpose, nor have it in my power to turn 
away the Trojan king from Italy? because 
I am restrained by fate! Was Pallas able 
to burn the Grecian ships, and bury them- 
selves in the ocean, for the offense of one, 
and the frenzy of Ajax, Oileus' son? She 
herself, hurling from the clouds Jove's 
rapid fire, both scattered their ships, and up- 
turned the sea with the winds: him too she 
snatched away in a whirlwind, breathing 
flames from his transfixed breast, and 
dashed him against the pointed rock. But 
I, who move majestic, the queen of heaven, 
both sister and wife of Jove, must maintain 
a series of wars with one single race for so 
many years. And who will henceforth adore 
Juno's divinity, or humbly offer sacrifice on 
her altars? 

The goddess by herself revolving such 
thoughts in her inflamed breast, repairs to 
iEolia, the native land of storms, regions 
pregnant with boisterous winds. Here, in 
a vast cave, king iEolus controls with im- 



6 VIRGIL S .ENEID. BOOK I [52-70 

perial sway the reluctant winds and sound- 
ing tempests, and confines them with chains 
in prison. They roar indignant round their 
barriers, filling the mountain with loud 
murmurs. -ZEolus is seated on a lofty throne, 
wielding a sceptre, and assuages their fury, 
and moderates their rage. For, unless he 
did so, they, in their rapid career, would 
bear away sea and earth, and the deep 
heaven, and sweep them through the air. 
But the almighty Sire, guarding against 
this, hath pent them in gloomy caves, and 
thrown over them the ponderous weight of 
mountains, and appointed them a king, who, 
by fixed laws, and at command, knows both 
to curb them, and when to relax their reins; 
whom Juno then in suppliant words thus 
addressed: iEolus, (for the sire of gods and 
the king of men hath given thee power both 
to smooth the waves, and raise them from 
the wind,) a race by me detested sails the 
Tuscan Sea, transporting Ilium, and its con- 
quered gods, into Italy. Strike force into 
thy winds, overset and sink the ships; or 
drive them different ways, and strew the 
ocean with carcasses. I have twice seven 
lovely nymphs, the fairest of whom De'io- 
peia, I will join to thee in firm wedlock, 
and assign to be thine own forever, that 
with thee she may spend all her years for 
this service, and make thee father of a beau- 
tiful offspring. 



7I-86J VIRGIL S .ENEID. BOOK I 7 

To whom ^Eolus replies: 'Tis thy task, 
queen, to consider what you would have 
done : on me it is incumbent to execute your 
commands. You conciliate to me whatever 
of power I have, my sceptre, and Jove. You 
grant me to sit at the tables of the gods: 
and you make me lord of storms and tem- 
pests. 

Thus having said, whirling the point of 
his spear, he struck the hollow mountain's 
side: and the winds, as in a formed bat- 
talion, rush forth at every vent, and scour 
over the lands in a hurricane. They press 
upon the ocean, and at once, east, and south, 
and stormy south-west, plow up the whole 
deep from its lowest bottom, and roll vast 
billows to the shores. The cries of the sea- 
men succeed, and the cracking of the cor- 
dage. In an instant clouds snatch the 
heavens and day from the eyes of the Tro- 
jans: sable night sits brooding on the sea, 
thunder roars from pole to pole, the sky 
glares with repeated flashes, and all nature 
threatens them with immediate death. 
Forthwith iEneas' limbs are relaxed with 
cold shuddering fear. He groans, and 
spreading out both his hands to heaven, 
thus expostulates : thrice and four times 
happy they, who had the good fortune to die 
before their parents' eyes, under the high 
ramparts of Troy ! thou, the bravest of 
the Grecian race, great Tydeus' son, why was 



8 virgil's ^eneid. book i [87-112 

I not destined to fall on the Trojan plains, 
and pour out this soul by thy right hand? 
where stern Hector lies prostrate by the 
sword of Achilles; where mighty Sarpedon 
[lies] ; where Simois rolls along so many 
shields, and helmets, and bodies of heroes 
snatched away beneath its waters. 

While uttering such words a tempest, 
roaring from the north, strikes across the 
sail, and heaves the billows to the stars. 
The oars are shattered : then the prow turns 
away, and exposes the side to the waves. A 
steep mountain of waters follows in a heap. 
These hang on the towering surge; to those 
the wide-yawning deep discloses the earth 
between two waves: the whirling tide rages 
with [mingled] sand. Three other ships the 
south wind, hurrying away, throws on hid- 
den rocks; rocks in the midst of the ocean, 
which the Italians call Altars, a vast ridge 
rising to the surface of the sea. Three from 
the deep the east wind drives on shoals and 
flats, a piteous spectacle ! and dashing on the 
shelves, it encloses them with mounds of 
sand. Before the eyes of iEneas himself, a 
mighty billow, falling from the height, 
dashes against the stern of one which bore 
the Lycian crew, and faithful Orontes: the 
pilot is tossed out and rolled headlong, 
prone [into the waves] ; but her the driving 
serge thrice whirls around in the same place, 
and the rapid eddy swallows up in the deep. 



113-135] virgil's .eneid. book i 9 

Then floating here and there on the vast 
abyss, are seen men, their arms and planks, 
and the Trojan wealth, among the waves. 
Now the storm overpowered the stout ves- 
sel of llioneus, now that of brave Achates, 
and that in which Abas sailed, and that in 
which old Alethes: all, at their loosened and 
disjointed sides, receive the hostile stream, 
and gape with chinks. 

Meanwhile Neptune perceived that the sea 
was in great uproar and confusion, a storm 
sent forth, and the depths overturned from 
their lowest channels. He, in violent com- 
motion, and looking forth from the deep, 
reared his serene countenance above the 
waves; sees iEneas's fleet scattered over the 
ocean, the Trojans oppressed with the waves 
and the ruin from above. Nor were Juno's 
wiles and hate unknown to her brother. He 
calls to him the east and west winds; then 
thus addresses them : And do you thus pre- 
sume upon your birth? dare you, winds! 
without my sovereign leave, to embroil 
heaven and earth, and raise such mountains. 
Whom I But first it is right to as- 
suage the tumultuous waves. A chastise- 
ment of another nature from me awaits your 
next offense. Fly apace, and bear this mes- 
sage to your king: That not to him the 
empire of the sea, and the awful trident, 
but to me by lot are given: his dominions 
are the mighty rocks, your proper mansions, 



10 virgil's ^eneid. book i [136-162 

Eurus: in that palace let king JEolus 
proudly boast, and reign in the close prison 
of the winds. 

So he speaks, and, more swiftly than his 
speech, smooths the swelling seas, disperses 
the collected clouds, and brings back the 
day. With him Cymothoe, and Triton with 
exerted might, heave the ships from the 
pointed rock. He himself raised them with 
his trident; lays open the vast sandbanks, 
and calms the sea; and in his light chariot 
glides along the surface of the waves. And 
as when a sedition has perchance arisen 
among a mighty multitude, and the minds 
of the ignoble vulgar rage; now firebrands, 
now stones fly; fury supplies them with 
arms: if then, by chance, they espy a man 
revered in piety and worth, they are hushed, 
and stand with ears erect; he, by eloquence, 
rules their passions, and calms their breasts. 
Thus all the raging tumult of the ocean sub- 
sides, as soon as the sire, surveying the seas, 
and wafted through the open sky, guides his 
steeds, and flying, gives the reins to his easy 
chariot. 

The weary Trojans direct their course to- 
wards the nearest shores, and make the coast 
of Libya. Tn a long recess, a station lies; 
an island forms it into a harbor by its jut- 
ting sides, against which every wave from 
the ocean is broken, and divides itself into 
receding curves. On either side vast cliffs, 



163-184] virgil's ^neid. book i 11 

and two twin-like rocks, threaten the sky; 
under whose summit the waters all around 
are calm and still. Above is a sylvan scene 
with waving woods, and a dark grove with 
awful shade hangs over. Under the opposite 
front a cave is of pendant rocks, within which 
are fresh springs, and seats of living stone, the 
recess of nymphs. Here neither cables hold, 
nor anchors with crooked fluke moor the 
weather-beaten ships. To this retreat iEneas 
brings seven ships, collected from all his 
fleet; and the Trojans, longing much for 
land, disembarking, enjoy the wished-for 
shore, and stretch their brine-drenched 
limbs upon the beach. Then first Achates 
struck spark from a flint, received the fire 
in leaves, round it applied dry combustible 
matter, and instantly blew up a flame from 
the fuel. Then, spent with toil and hunger, 
they produce their grain, damaged by the 
sea- water, and the instruments of Ceres; 
and prepare to dry over the fire, and to 
grind with stones, their rescued corn. 
Meanwhile iEneas climbs a rock, and takes 
a prospect of the wide ocean all around, if, 
by any means, he can descry any [man like] 
Antheus tossed by the wind, and the Phryg- 
ian galleys, or Capys, or the arms of Caicus, 
on the lofty deck. He sees no ship in view, 
but three stags straying on the shore: these 
the whole herd follow, and are feeding 
through the valley in a long-extended train. 



12 virgil's ^neid. book i [185-207 

Here he stopped short, and snatching his 
bow and swiit arrows, (weapons which the 
faithful Achates bore,) first prostrates the 
leaders, bearing their heads high with 
branching horns; next the vulgar throng; 
and disperses the whole herd, driving them 
with darts through the leafy woods. Nor 
desists he, till conqueror he stretches seven 
huge deer on the ground, and equals their 
number with his ships. Hence he returns 
to the port, and shares them amongst all 
his companions. Then the hero divides the 
wine which the good Acestes had stowed in 
casks on the Sicilian shore, and given them 
at parting, and with these w^ords cheers 
their saddened hearts: companions, who 
have sustained severer ills than these, (for we 
are not strangers to former days of adver- 
sity,) to these, too, God will grant a termi- 
nation. You have approached both Seylla's 
fury, and those deep roaring rocks; you are 
unacquainted with the dens of the Cyclops: 
resume then your courage, and dismiss your 
impending fears; perhaps hereafter it may 
delight you to remember these sufferings. 
Through various mischances, through so 
many perilous adventures, we steer to Latium, 
where the Fates give us the prospect of peace- 
ful settlements. There Troy's kingdom is al- 
lowed once more to rise. Persevere, and 
reserve yourselves for prosperous days. So 
he says in words; and oppressed with heavy 



208-231] virgil's ^eneid. book i 13 

cares, wears the look of hope, buries deep 
anguish in his breast. 

They addressed themselves to the spoil 
and future feast ; tear the skin from the ribs, 
and lay the flesh bare. Some cut into parts, 
and fix on spits the quivering limbs : others 
place the brazen caldrons on the shore, and 
prepare the fires. Then they repair their 
strength with food, and, stretched along the 
grass, regale themselves with old wine and 
fat venison. After hunger was taken away 
by banquets, and the viands removed, in 
long discourse they inquire after their lost 
companions, in suspense between hope and 
fear, whether to believe them yet alive, or 
that they have finished their destiny, and 
no longer hear when called. 

Above the rest, the pious iEneas, within 
himself, bemoans now the loss of the active 
Orontes, now of Amycus, and then the cruel 
fate of Lycus, with valiant Gyas, and val- 
iant Cloanthus. 

And now there was an end [of discourse] ; 
when Jove, looking down from the lofty 
sky upon the sail-flown sea, and the lands 
lying at rest, with the shores and the na- 
tions dispersed abroad; thus stood on the 
pinnacle of heaven, and fixed his eyes on 
Libya's realms. To him, revolving such 
cares in his mind, Venus, in mournful 
mood, her bright eyes bedimmed with tears, 
addresses herself: thou, who with eternal 



14 virgil's .bneid. book i [232-250 

sway rudest, and with thy thunder over- 
awest, the affairs of both gods and men, 
what so high offense against thee could my 
iEneas or the Trojans be guilty of, that, 
after having suffered so many deaths, they 
must be shut out from all the world on 
account of Italy ? Surely you promised, that 
in some future age, after circling years, the 
Komans should descend from them, power- 
ful leaders spring from the blood of Teucer 
restored, who should rule the sea, the na- 
tions with absolute sway. Father ! why is 
thy purpose changed? I, indeed, was solac- 
ing myself with this promise under Troy's 
fall and sad ruin, with fates balancing con- 
trary fates. Now the same fortune still 
pursues them, after they have been driven 
with such variety of woes. Great king, what 
end to their labors wilt thou give ? Antenor, 
escaped from amidst the Greeks, could with 
safety penetrate the Illyrian gulf, and the 
inmost realms of Liburnia, and overpass the 
springs of Timavus; whence, through nine 
mouths, with loud echoing from the moun- 
tain, it bursts away a sea impetuous, and 
sweeps the fields with a roaring deluge. Yet 
there he built the city of Padua, established 
a Trojan settlement, gave the nation a 
name, and set up the arms of Troy. Now 
in calm peace composed he rests: we, thy 
own progeny, whom thou by thy nod or- 
dainest the throne of heaven, (oh woe un- 



251-274] VIKGIL'S iENEID. BOOK I 15 

utterable!) having lost our ships, are be- 
trayed, driven hither and thither far from 
the Italian coast, to gratify the malice of 
one. Are these the honors of piety? is it 
thus thou replacest us on the throne? 

The sire of gods and men, smiling upon 
her, with that aspect wherewith he clears 
the tempestuous sky, gently kissed his 
daughter's lips ; then thus replies : Cythe- 
rea, cease from fear : immovable to thee re- 
main the fates of thy people. Thou shalt see 
the city and promised walls of Lavinium, 
and shalt raise magnanimous iEneas aloft 
to the stars of heaven; nor is my purpose 
changed. In Italy he (for I will tell thee, 
since this care lies gnawing at thy heart, 
and tracing farther back, I will reveal the 
secrets of fate) shall wage a mighty war, 
crush a stubborn nation, and establish laws 
and cities to his people, till the third sum- 
mer shall see him reigning in Latium, and 
three winters pass after he has subdued the 
Eutulians. But the boy Ascanius, who has 
now the surname of lulus, (Ilus he was, 
while the empire of Ilium flourished,) shall 
measure with his reign full thirty great 
circles of revolving months, transfer the seat 
of his empire from Lavinium, and strongly 
fortify Alba Longa. Here again for full 
three hundred years, the sceptre shall be 
swayed by Hector's line, until Ilia, a royal 
priestess, impregnated by Mars, shall bear 



16 virgil's ^eneid. book i [275-293 

two infants at a birth. Then Eomulus, 
exulting in the tawny hide of the wolf his 
nurse, shall take upon him the rule of the 
nation, build a city sacred to Mars, and 
from his own name call the people Eomans. 
To them I affix neither limits nor duration 
of empire; dominion have I given them 
without end. And even sullen Juno, who 
now, through jealous fear, creates endless 
disturbance to sea, and earth, and heaven, 
shall change her counsels for the better, and 
join with me in befriending the Eomans, 
lords of the world, and the nation of the 
gown. Such is my pleasure. An age shall 
come, after a course of years, when the 
house of Assaracus shall bring under sub- 
jection Phthia and renowned Mycenae, and 
reign over vanquished Argos. A Trojan 
shall be born of illustrious race, Caesar, who 
shall bound his empire by the ocean, his 
fame by the stars, Julius his name, from 
great lulus derived. Him, loaded with the 
spoils of the East, you shall receive to 
heaven at length, having seen an end of all 
your cares: he too shall be invoked by vows 
and prayers. Then, wars having ceased, 
fierce nations shall soften into peace. Hoary 
Faith, Vesta, and Quirinus, with his brother 
Eemus, shall administer justice. The dread- 
ful gates of war shall be shut with close 
bolts of iron. Within impious Fury, sitting 
on horrid arms, and his hands bound behind 



294-316] virgil's ^eneid. book i 17 

him with a hundred brazen chains, in hid- 
eous rage shall gnash his bloody jaws. 

He said, and from on high sent down 
Maia's son, that the coasts of Libya and the 
new towers of Carthage might be open hos- 
pitably to receive the Trojans; lest Dido, 
ignorant of heaven's decree, should shut 
them out from her ports. He, on the steer- 
age of his wings, flies through the expanded 
sky, and speedily alighted on the coasts of 
Libya. And now he puts his orders in exe- 
cution; and, at the will of the god, the Car- 
thaginians lay aside the fierceness of their 
hearts: the queen, especially, entertains 
thoughts of peace, and a benevolent dispo- 
sition towards the Trojans. 

But pious -ZEneas, by night revolving 
many things, resolved, as soon as cheerful 
day arose, to set out, and to reconnoitre 
the unknown country, on what coasts he was 
driven by the wind ; who are the inhabitants, 
whether men or wild beasts, (for he sees 
nothing but uncultivated grounds,) and in- 
form his friends of his discoveries. Within 
a winding grove, under a hollow rock, he 
secretly disposed his fleet, fenced round with 
trees and gloomy shades: himself marches 
forth, attended by Achates alone, brandish- 
ing in his hand two javelins of broad- 
pointed steel. To whom, in the midst of a 
wood, his mother presents herself, wearing 
the mien and attire of a virgin, and the 



18 VIRGIL'S iENEID. BOOK I [317-336 

arms of a Spartan maid; or resembling 
Thracian Harpalyce, when she tires her 
steeds, and in her course outflies the swift 
Hebrus: for, huntress-like, she had hung 
from her shoulders a light bow, and suffered 
her hair to wanton in the wind; bare to the 
knee, with her flowing robes gathered in a 
knot. Then first, Pray, youths, she says, 
inform me if by chance ye have seen any 
of my sisters wandering this way, equipped 
with a quiver, and the skin of a spotted 
lynx, or with full cry urging the chase of a 
foaming boar. Thus Venus, and thus 
Venus' son replied : Of your sisters not one 
has been heard or seen by me. virgin, 
by what name shall I address thee ? for thou 
wearest not the looks of a mortal, nor 
sounds thy voice human. thou a goddess 
surely! Are you the sister of Phoebus, or 
one of the race of the nymphs? Oh! be 
propitious, and whoever you are, ease our 
anxious minds, and inform us under what 
climate, on what region of the globe, we at 
length are thrown. We wander strangers 
both to the country and the inhabitants, 
driven upon this coast by furious winds and 
swelling seas. So shall many a victim fall 
a sacrifice at thine altars by our right hand. 
Then Venus: I, indeed, deem not myself 
worthy of such honor. It is the custom for 
the Tyrian virgins to wear a quiver, and 
bind the leg thus high with a purple buskin. 



337-359] virgil's ^eneid. book i 19 

You see the kingdom of Carthage, a Tyrian 
people, and Agenor's city. But the country 
is that of Libya, a race invincible in war. 
The kingdom is ruled by Dido, who fled 
hither from Tyre, to shun her brother's 
hate: tedious is the relation of her wrongs, 
and intricate the circumstances; but I shall 
trace the principal heads. Her husband was 
Sichaeus, the richest of the Phoenicians in 
land, and passionately beloved by his un- 
happy spouse. Her father had given her to 
him in her virgin bloom, and joined her in 
wedlock w r ith the first connubial rites: but 
her brother Pygmalion then possessed the 
throne of Tyre; atrociously wicked beyond 
all mortals. Between them hatred arose. 
He, impious, and blinded with the love of 
gold, having taken Sichaeus by surprise, se- 
cretly assassinates him before the altar, re- 
gardless of his sister's great affection. Long 
he kept the deed concealed, and wicked, 
forging many lies, amused the heart-sick, 
loving [queen] with vain hope. But the 
ghost of the unburied husband appeared to 
her in a dream, lifting up his visage amaz- 
ingly pale and ghastly: he opened to her 
view the bloody altars, and his breast trans- 
fixed with the sword, and detected all the 
hidden villainy of the house; then exhorts 
her to hasten flight, and quit her native 
country; and, to aid her flight, reveals 
treasures ancient in the earth, an unknown 



20 VIRGIL'S ^NEID. BOOK I [360-380 

mass of gold and silver. Dido, roused by 
this awful messenger, provided friends, and 
prepared to fly. They assemble, who either 
had mortal hatred or violent dread of the 
tyrant : what ships by chance are ready, they 
seize in haste, and load with gold. The 
wealth of the covetous Pygmalion is con- 
veyed over sea. A woman is guide of the 
exploit. Thither they came, where now you 
will see the stately walls and rising towers 
of a new-built Carthage, and bought as 
much ground as they could enclose with a 
bull's hide, called Byrsa, in commemora- 
tion of the deed. But [say] now, who are 
you? or from what coasts you came, or 
whither are you bending your way? To 
these her demands, the hero, with heavy 
sighs, and slowly raising his words from the 
bottom of his breast, [thus replies,] If I, 
goddess ! tracing from their first source, 
shall pursue, and you have leisure to hear, 
the annals of our woes, the evening star 
will first shut heaven's gates upon the ex- 
piring day. Driven over a length of seas 
from ancient Troy, (if the name of Troy 
hath by chance reached your ears,) a tem- 
pest, by its wonted chance, threw us on this 
Libyan coast. I am iEneas the pious, re- 
nowned by fame above the skies, who carry 
with me in my fleet the gods I snatched 
away from the enemy. I seek my country, 
Italy; and my descendants sprang from 



381-400] virgil's ^eneid. book i 21 

Jove supreme. With twice ten ships I em- 
barked on the Phrygian Sea, having fol- 
lowed the destinies vouchsafed me, my god- 
dess-mother pointing out the way; seven, 
with much ado, are saved, torn and shat- 
tered by waves and wind. Myself, a stranger, 
poor and destitute, wander through the des- 
erts of Africa, banished from Europe and 
from Asia. Venus, unable to bear his fur- 
ther complaints, thus interrupted in the 
midst of his grief: Whoever you may be, I 
trust you live not unbefriended by the 
powers of heaven, who have arrived at a 
Tyrian city. But do you forthwith bend 
your course directly to the palace of the 
queen: for, that your friends are returned, 
and your ships saved, and by a turn of the 
north wind wafted into a secure harbor, I 
pronounce to thee with assurance, unless my 
parents, fond of a lying art, have in vain 
taught me divination. See these twelve 
swans exulting in a body, whom the bird of 
Jove, having glided from the ethereal 
region, was chasing through the open air: 
now, in a long train, they seem either to 
choose their ground, or to hover over the 
place they have already chosen. As they, 
returning, sportive clap their rustling wings, 
wheel about the heavens in a troop, and 
raise their melodious notes; just so your 
ships and youthful crew, either are pos- 
sessed of the harbor, or are entering the 



22 virgil's .eneid. book i [401-423 

port with full sail. Proceed, then, and pur- 
sue your way where this path directs. 

She said, and turning away, shone radiant 
with her rosy neck, and from her head ani- 
brocial locks breathed divine fragrance: her 
robe hung flowing to the ground, and by her 
gait the goddess stood confessed. The hero, 
soon as he knew his mother, with these ac- 
cents pursued her as she fled: Why so oft 
dost thou too cruelly mock thy son with vain 
shapes? why is it not granted me to join 
my hand to thine, and to hear and answer 
thee by turns in words sincere and undis- 
sembled? Thus he expostulates with her, 
and directs his course to the walls. But 
Venus screened them on their way with dim 
clouds, and the goddess spread around them 
a thick veil of mist, that none might see, or 
touch, or cause them interruption, or in- 
quire into the reasons of their coming. She 
herself wings her way sublime to Paphos, 
and with joy revisits her seats; where, sacred 
to her honor, is a temple, and a hundred 
altars smoke with Sabean incense, and are 
fragrant with fresh garlands. 

Meanwhile they urged their way where 
the path directs. And now they were ascend- 
ing the hill that hangs over a great part of 
the town, and from above surveys its oppo- 
site towers, 2Eneas admires the mass of 
buildings, once cottages : he admires the 
gates, the bustle, and the paved streets. The 



424-445) VIRGIL'S ^ENEID. BOOK I 23 

Tyrians warmly ply the work: some extend 
the walls, and raise a tower to push along 
unwieldy stones ; some choose out the ground 
for a private building, and enclose it with 
a trench. Some choose [a place for] the 
courts of justice, for the magistrates' 
[halls] and the venerable senate. Here some 
are digging ports; there others are laying 
the foundations for lofty theaters, and hew- 
ing huge columns from the rocks, the lofty 
decorations of future scenes. Such their toil 
as in summer's prime employs the bees 
amidst the flowery fields under the sun, 
when they lead forth the full-grown swarms 
of their ra<ce, or when they press close the 
liquid honey, and distend the cells with 
sweet nectar; or when they disburden those 
that come home loaded, or in formed bat- 
talion, drive the inactive flock of drones 
from the hives. The work is hotly plied, 
and the fragrant honey smells strongly of 
thyme. happy ye, whose walls now rise ! 
tineas says, and lifts his eyes to the turrets 
of the city. Shrouded in a cloud, (a mar- 
vel to be told ! ) he passes amidst the mul- 
titude, and mingles with the throng, nor is 
seen by any. In the center of the city was a 
grove, most delightful in shade, where first 
the Carthaginians, driven by wind and wave, 
dug up the head of a sprightly courser, an 
omen which royal Juno showed : for by this 
[she signified], that the nation was to be 



24 virgil's ^eneid. book i [446-466 

renowned for war, brave and victorious 

through ages. Here Sidonian Dido built 
to Juno a stately temple, enriched with 
gifts, and the presence of the goddess; 
whose brazen threshold rose on steps, the 
beams were bound with brass, and the hinge 
creaked beneath brazen gates. In this grove 
the view of an unexpected scene first abated 
the fear [of the Trojans] : here iEneas first 
dared to hope for redress, and to conceive 
better hopes of his afflicted state. For while 
he surveys every object in the spacious tem- 
ple, waiting the queen's arrival; while he is 
musing with wonder on the fortune of the 
city; and [compares] the skill of the artists 
and their elaborate works, he sees the Trojan 
battles [delineated] in order, and the war 
now known by fame over all the world; the 
sons of Atreus, Priam, and Achilles implac- 
able to both. He stood still ; and, with tears 
in his eyes, What place, Achates, what coun- 
try on the globe, is not full of our disaster? 
See Priam ! even here praiseworthy deeds 
meet with due reward: here are tears for 
misfortunes, and the breasts are touched 
with human woes. Dismiss your fears : this 
fame of ours will bring thee some relief. 
Thus he speaks, and feeds his mind with the 
empty representations, heaving many a sigh, 
and bathes his visage in floods of tears. For 
he beheld how, on one hand, the warrior 
Greeks were flying round the walls of Troy, 



467-4881 virgil's ^eneid. book i 25 

while the Trojan youth closely pursued; on 
the other hand, the Trojans [were flying], 
while plumed Achilles, in his chariot, 
pressed on their rear. Not far from that 
scene, weeping, he espies the tents of Bhe- 
sus, with their snow-white veils; which, be- 
trayed by the first sleep, cruel Diomede 
plundered, drenched in much blood, and led 
away his fiery steeds to the [Grecian] camp, 
before they had tasted the pasture of Troy, 
or drank of Xanthus. In another part, 
Troilus, flying after the loss of his arms, 
ill-fated youth, and unequally matched with 
Achilles ! is dragged by his horses, and from 
the empty chariot hangs supine, yet grasp- 
ing the reins; his neck and hair trail along 
the ground, and the dusty plain is traced 
by the inverted spear. Meanwhile the Tro- 
jan matrons were marching to the temple of 
adverse Pallas, with their hair disheveled, 
and were bearing the robe, suppliantly 
mournful, and beating their bosoms with 
their hands. The goddess turned away, 
kept her eyes fixed on the ground. Thrice 
had Achilles dragged Hector round the walls 
of Troy, and w r as selling his breathless 
corpse for gold. Then, indeed, iEneas sent 
forth a deep groan from the bottom of his 
breast, when he saw the spoils, the chariot, 
and the very body of his friend, and Priam 
stretching forth his feeble hands. Himself 
too he recognized mingled with the Grecian 



26 virgil's .eneid. book i [489-510 

leaders, and the Eastern bands, and the 
arms of swarthy Memnon. Furious Penthe- 
silea leads on her troops of Amazons, with 
their crescent shields, and burns amidst the 
thickest ranks. Below her exposed breast 
the heroine had girt a golden belt, and the 
virgin warrior dares even to encounter with 
men. 

These wondrous scenes while the Trojan 
prince surveys, while he is lost in thought, 
and in one gaze stands unmoved; Queen 
Dido, of surpassing beauty, advanced to the 
te t mple, attended by a numerous retinue of 
youth. As on the banks of Eurotas, or on 
Mount Cynthus' top, Diana leads the cir- 
cular dances, round whom a numerous train 
of mountain nymphs play in rings ; she bears 
her quiver on her shoulder, and moving ma- 
jestic, she towers above the other goddesses, 
while silent raptures thrill Latona's bosom; 
such Dido was, and such, with cheerful 
grace, she passed amidst her train, urging 
forward the labor and her future kingdom. 
Then at the gate of the goddess, in the mid- 
dle of the temple's dome, she took her seat, 
surrounded with her guards, and raised 
aloft on the throne. [Here] she dispensed 
justice and laws to her subjects, and, in 
equal portions, distributed their tasks, or 
settled them by lot; when suddenly iEneas 
sees, advancing with a vast concourse, An- 
theus, Sergestus, brave Cloanthus, and other 



511-5321 virgil's ^neid. book i 27 

Trojans, whom a black storm had tossed up 
and down the sea, and driven to other far- 
distant shores. At once he was amazed, at 
once Achates was struck, and between joy 
and fear both ardently longed to join hands; 
but the uncertainty of the event perplexes 
their minds. They carry on their disguise, 
and, shrouded under the bending cloud, 
watch to learn the fortune of their friends; 
on what coast they left the fleet, and on 
what errand they came : for a select number 
had come from all the ships to sue for grace, 
and, with mingled voices, approached the 
temple. 

Having gained admission and liberty to 
speak in the presence, Ilioneus their chief, 
with mind composed, thus began : queen, 
to whom Jove has granted to found this 
rising city and to curb proud nations with 
just laws, we Trojans forlorn, tossed by 
winds over every sea, implore thee: keep 
from our ships the merciless flames ; spare a 
pious race, and propitiously regard our dis- 
tresses. We are not come either to ravage 
with the sword the Libyan abodes, or to 
seize and bear away the plunder to our ships. 
We have no such hostile intention, nor does 
such pride of heart become the vanquished. 
There is a place called by the Greeks Hes- 
peria, an ancient land, renowned for martial 
deeds and fruitful soil ; the (Enotrians pos- 
sessed it once : now fame is that their de- 



28 virgil's ^eneid, book i [532-554 

scendants call the nation Italy, from their 
leader's name; hither our course was bent, 
when suddenly tempestuous Orion rising 
from the main, drove us on hidden shallows, 
and with southern blasts fiercely sporting, 
tossed us hither and thither over waves, and 
over pathless rocks, overwhelmed by the 
briny deep: hither we few have floated to 
your coasts. What a race of men is this? 
what country so barbarous to allow such 
manners? We are denied the hospitality of 
the shore. In arms they rise, and forbid our 
setting foot on the first verge of land. If 
you set at nought the human kind, and the 
arms of mortals, yet know the gods have a 
mindful regard to right and wrong. We 
had for our king iEneas, than whom no 
one was more just in piety, none more sig- 
nalized in war and in martial achievements ; 
whom, if the Fates preserve, if he breathe 
the vital air, and do not yet rest with the 
ruthless shades, neither shall we despair, nor 
you repent your having been the first in 
challenging to acts of kindness. We have 
likewise cities and arms in Sicily, and the 
illustrious Acestes is of Trojan extraction. 
Permit us to bring to shore our wind-beaten 
fleet, and from your woods to choose [trees 
for] planks, and to refit our oars; that, if 
it be granted to bend our course to Italy, 
upon the recovery of our prince and friends, 
we may joyfully set out thither, and make 



555-576] virgil's ^neid. book i 29 

the Latian shore. But if our safety has 
perished, and thou, father of the Trojans, 
the best of men ! now liest buried in the 
Libyan sea, and no further hope of lulus 
remains, we may at least repair to the straits 
of Sicily, and the settlement there prepared 
for us, (whence we were driven hither,) and 
visit king Acestes. So spoke Ilioneus; at 
the same time, the other Trojans murmured 
their consent. 

Then Dido, with downcast looks, thus in 
brief replies: Trojans, banish fear from 
your breasts, lay your cares aside. My hard 
fate, and the infancy of my kingdom, force 
me to take such measures and to secure my 
frontiers with guards around. Who is 
stranger to the iEneian race, the city of 
Troy, her heroes, and their valorous deeds, 
and to the devastations of so renowned a 
war? "We Carthaginians do not possess 
hearts that are so obdurate and insensible, 
nor yokes the sun his steeds so far away 
from our Tyrian city. Whether Hesperia 
the greater, and the country where Saturn 
reigned, or ye choose [to visit] Eryx 9 coast 
and king Acestes, I will dismiss you safe 
with assistance, and support you with my 
wealth. Or will you settle with me in this 
realm? The city which I am building shall 
be yours: draw your ships ashore; Trojan 
and Tyrian shall be treated by me with no 
distinction. And would that your prince 



30 virgil's ^eneid. book i [577-598 

JEneas too were here, driven by the same 
wind ! However, I will send trusty mes- 
sengers along the coasts, with order to 
search Libya's utmost bounds, if he is 
thrown out to wander in some wood or city. 

Animated by these words, brave Achates 
and father JEneas had long impatiently de- 
sired to break from the cloud. Achates first 
addressed JEneas: Goddess-born, what pur- 
pose now arises in your mind ? You see all 
is safe ; your fleet and friends restored. One 
alone is missing, whom we ourselves beheld 
sunk in the midst of the waves: every thing 
else agrees with your mother's prediction. 
He had scarcely spoken, when suddenly the 
circumambient cloud splits asunder, and 
dissolves into open air. JEneas stood forth, 
and in the clear light shone conspicuous, 
in countenance and form resembling a god: 
for Venus herself had breathed upon her son 
graceful locks, and the radiant bloom of 
youth, and breathed a sprightly luster on 
his eyes : such beauty as the hand superadds 
to ivory, or where silver or Parian marble 
is enchased with yellow gold. 

Then suddenly addressing the queen, he, 
to the surprise of all, thus begins : I, whom 
you seek, am present before you; Trojan 
JEneas, snatched from the Libyan waves. 
thou, who alone hast commiserated Troy's 
unutterable calamities ! who in thy town and 
palace dost associate us, a remnant saved 



599-623] virgil's ^sneid. book i 31 

from the Greeks, who have now been worn 
out by woes in every shape, both by sea and 
land, and are in want of all things ! to repay 
thee due thanks, great queen, exceeds the 
power not only of us, but of all the Dardan 
race, wherever dispersed over the world. The 
gods (if any powers divine regard the pious, 
if justice any where exists, and a mind con^ 
scious of its own virtue) shall yield thee a 
just recompense. What age was so happy 
as to produce thee? who were the parents of 
so illustrious an offspring? While rivers 
run into the sea, while shadows move round 
the convex mountains, while heaven feeds 
the stars; your honor, name and praise 
[with me] shall ever live, to whatever climes 
I am called. This said, be embraces his 
friend Ilioneus with his right hand, and 
Serestus with his left: then the rest, the 
heroic Gyas, and heroic Cloanthus. 

Sidonian Dido stood astonished, first in 
the presence of the hero, then at his signal 
sufferings, and thus her speech addressed : 
What hard fate, goddess-born, pursues 
thee through such mighty dangers ! what 
power drives thee on this barbarous coast? 
Are you that iEneas, whom, by Phrygian 
Simois' stream, fair Venus bore to Trojan 
Anchises? And now, indeed, I call to mind 
that Teucer, expelled from his native coun- 
try, came to Sidon in quest of a new king- 
dom, by the aid of Belus. My father Belus 



32 virgil's .eneid. book i [624-646 

then reaped the soil of wealthy Cyprus, and 
held it in subjection to his victorious arms. 
Ever since that time I have been acquainted 
with the fate of Tro3 r , with your name, and 
the Grecian kings. The enemy himself ex- 
tolled the Trojans with distinguished praise, 
and with pleasure traced his descent from 
the ancient Trojan race. Come then, youths, 
enter our walls. Me, too, through a series 
of labors tossed, a like fortune has at length 
doomed to settle in this land. Not unac- 
quainted with misfortune [in my own person], 
I have learned to succor the distressed. 

This said, she forthwith leads iEneas into 
the royal apartments, and at the same time 
ordains due honors for the temples of the 
gods. Meanwhile, with no less care, she 
sends presents to his companions on the 
shore, twenty bulls, a hundred bristly backs 
of huge boars, a hundred fat lambs, with the 
ewes, as gifts and pleasure for the day. But 
the inner rooms are splendidly furnished 
with regal pomp, and banquets are prepared 
in the middle of the hall. Couch draperies 
wrought with art, and of proud purple; 
massy silver plate on the table, and, em- 
bossed in gold, the brave exploits of her 
ancestors, a lengthened series of history 
traced down through so many heroes, from 
the first founder of the ancient race. JEneas 
(for paternal affection suffered not his mind 
to rest) with speed sends on Achates to the 



647-668] virgil's .eneid. book i 33 

ships, to bear those tidings to Ascanius, and 
bring [the boy] himself to the city. All the 
care of the fond parent centers in Ascanius. 
Besides, he bids him bring presents, saved 
from the ruins of Troy, a mantle stiff with 
gold and figures, and a veil woven round with 
saffron-colored acanthus, the ornaments of 
Grecian Helen, which she had brought with 
her from Mycenae, when bound for Troy, and 
lawless nuptials ; her mother Leda's wondrous 
gift ; a scepter too, which once Ilione, Priam's 
eldest daughter, bore, a necklace strung with 
pearl, and a crown set with double rows of 
gems and gold. This message to despatch, 
Achates directed his course to the ships. 

But Venus revolves in her breast new 
plots, new designs; that Cupid should come 
in place of sweet Ascanius, assuming his 
mien and features, and by the gifts kindle 
in the queen all the rage of love, and enwrap 
the flame in her very bones; for she dreads 
the equivocating race, and the double- 
tongued Tyrians. Pell Juno torments her, 
and with the night her care returns. To 
winged Love, therefore, she addresses these 
words: son, my strength, my mighty 
power; my son, who alone defiest the 
Typhoean bolts of Jove supreme, to thee I 
fly, and suppliant implore thy deity. 'Tis 
known to thee how round all shores thy 
brother iEneas is tossed from sea to sea, by 
the spite of partial Juno, and in my grief 



34 virgil's ^neid. book i [669-692 

thou hast often grieved. Him Phoenician 
Dido entertains, and amuses with smooth 
speech; and I fear what may be the issue 
of Juno's acts of hospitality; she will not 
be idle in so critical a conjuncture; where- 
fore, I purpose to prevent the queen by 
subtle means, and to beset her with the 
flames of love, that no power may influence 
her to change, but that with me she may be 
possessed by great fondness for iEneas. How 
this thou mayest effect, now hear my plan. 
The royal boy, my chief care, at his father's 
call, prepares to visit the Sidonian city, 
bearing presents saved from the sea and 
flames of Troy. Him having lulled to rest, 
I will lay down in some sacred retreat on 
Cythera's tops, or above Idalium, lest he 
should discover the plot, or interfere with it. 
Do you artfully counterfeit his face but for 
one night, and, yourself a boy, assume a 
boy's familiar looks; that when Dido shall 
take thee to her bosom in the height of her 
joy, amidst the royal feasts, and Bacchus' 
stream, when she shall give thee embraces, 
and imprint sweet kisses, thou mayest 
breathe into her the secret flame, and by 
stealth convey the poison. Love obeys the 
dictates of his dear mother, and lays aside 
his wings, and joyful trips along in the gate 
of lulus. Meanwhile Venus pours the dews 
of balmy sleep on Ascanius' limbs, and in 
her bosom fondled, conveys him to Idalia's 



693-714] virgil's ^NEID. BOOK I 35 

lofty groves, where soft marjoram, perfum- 
ing the air with flowers and fragrant shade, 
clasps him round. 

Now, in obedience to his instructions, 
Cupid went along, and bore the royal pres- 
ents to the Tyrians, pleased with Achates 
for his guide. By the time he arrived, the 
queen had placed herself on a golden couch, 
under a rich canopy, and had taken her 
seat in the middle. Now father iEneas, and 
now the Trojan youth, join the assembly, 
and couch themselves on the strawn purple. 
The attendants supply water for the hands, 
dispense the gifts of Ceres from baskets, 
and furnish them with smooth-shorn towels. 
Within are fifty handmaids, whose task it 
was to prepare provisions in due order, and 
do honor to the household gods. A hundred 
more, and as many servants of equal age, 
are employed to load the boards with dishes, 
and place the cups. In like manner the 
Tyrians, a numerous train, assembled in the 
joyful courts, invited to recline on the em- 
broidered beds. They view with wonder the 
presents of iEneas: nor with less wonder 
do they view lulus, the glowing aspect of the 
god, his well-dissembled words, the mantle 
and veil figured with leaves of the acanthus 
in saffron colors. Chiefly the unhappy queen, 
henceforth devoted to love's pestilential in- 
fluence, cannot satisfy her feelings, and is 
inflamed with every glance, and is equally 



36 virgil's .eneid. book i [715-734 

moved by the boy and by his gifts. He on 
iEneas' neck having hung with embraces, 
and having fully gratified his fictitious 
father's ardent affections, makes for the 
queen. She clings to him with her eyes, her 
whole soul, and sometimes fondl'es him in 
her lap, Dido not thinking what a powerful 
god is settling on her, hapless one. Mean- 
while he, mindful of his Acidalian mother, 
begins insensibly to efface the memory of 
Sichaeus, and with a living flame tries to 
prepossess his languid affections, and her 
heart, chilled by long disuse. 

Soon as the first banquet ended, and the 
viands were removed, they place large 
mixers, and crown the wines. A bustling 
din arises through the hall, and they roll 
through the ample courts the bounding 
voice. Down from the gold-fretted ceilings 
hang the flaming lamps, and torches over- 
power the darkness of the night. Here the 
queen called for a bowl, heavy with gems 
and gold, and with pure wine filled it to 
the brim, which Belus, and all her ancestors 
from Belus, used; then, having enjoined 
silence through the palace, [she thus began:] 
Jove, (for by thee, it is said, the laws 
of hospitality were given,) grant this may 
be an auspicious day both to the Tyrians and 
my Trojan guests, and may this day be 
commemorated by our posterity. Bacchus, 
the giver of joy, and propitious Juno, be 



735-756] virgil's jENEId. book i 37 

present here; and yon, my Tynans, with 
good will, solemnize this meeting. She said, 
and on the table poured an offering; and, 
after the libation, first gently touched [the 
cup] with her lips, then gave it to Bitias 
with a challenge : he quickly drained the 
foaming bowl, and laved himself with the 
brimming gold. After him the other lords 
[drank]. Long-haired Iopas [next] tunes 
his golden lyre to what the mighty Atlas 
taught. He sings of the wandering moon, 
and the eclipses of the sun; whence the race 
of men and beasts, whence showers and fiery 
meteors arise : of Arcturus, and rainy Hy- 
ades, and the two northern wains ; why win- 
ter suns make so much haste to set in the 
ocean, or what retarding cause detains the 
slow [summer] nights. The Tyrians redouble 
their applauses, and the Trojans concur. 

Meanwhile unhappy Dido, with varied 
converse, spun out the night, and drank 
long draughts of love, questioning much 
about Priam, much about Hector : now in 
what arms Aurora's son had come ; now what 
were the excellences of Diomede's steeds; 
now how mighty was Achilles. Nay come, my 
guest, she says ; and from the first origin, re- 
late to us the stratagems of the Greeks, the 
adventures of your friends, and your own 
wanderings; for now the seventh summer 
brings thee [to our coasts], through wander- 
ing mazes roaming o'er every land and sea. 



38 virgil's ^eneid. book ii 1-18 



BOOK II 

In the Second Book, JEneas, at the desire of Queen 
Dido, relates the fall of Troy, and his escape, through 
the general conflagration, to Mount Ida. A compari- 
son with the poems of Petronius and Tryphiodorus will 
repay the reader. 

All became silent, and fixed their eyes 
upon him, eagerly attentive : then father 
iEneas thus from his lofty couch began: 

Unutterable woes, queen, you urge me 
to renew: to tell how the Greeks overturned 
the power of Troy, and its deplorable realms ; 
both what scenes of misery I myself beheld, 
and those wherein I was a principal party. 
What Myrmidon, or Dolopian, or who of 
hardened Ulysses' band, can, in the very tell- 
ing of such woes, refrain from tears? Be- 
sides, humid night is hastening down the 
sky, and the setting stars invite to sleep. 
But since you are so desirous of knowing our 
misfortunes, and briefly hearing the last 
effort of Troy, though my soul shudders at 
the remembrance, and hath shrunk back 
with grief, yet will I begin. The Grecian 
leaders, now disheartened by the war, and 
baffled by the Fates, after a revolution of 
so many years, [being assisted] by the divine 
skill of Pallas, build a horse to the size of 
a mountain, and interweave its ribs with 
planks of fir. This they pretend to be an 
offering, in order to procure a safe return; 



19-40] VIRGIL'S JENEID. BOOK II 39 

which report spread. Hither having secretly 
conveyed a select band, chosen by lot, they 
shut them up into the dark sides, and fill 
its capacious caverns and womb with armed 
soldiers. In sight [of Troy] lies Tenedos, 
an island well known by fame, and flourish- 
ing while Prianr's kingdom stood : now only 
a bay, and a station unfaithful for ships. 
Having made this island, they conceal them- 
selves in that desolate shore. We imagined 
they were gone, and that they had set sail 
for Mycenae. In consequence of [this], all 
Troy is released from its long distress: the 
gates are thrown open; with joy we issue 
forth, and view the Gregian camp, the de- 
serted plains, and the abandoned shore. Here 
were the Dolopian bands, there stern 
Achilles had pitched his tent; here were 
the ships drawn up, there they were wont 
to contend in array. Some view with amaze- 
ment that baleful offering of the virgin Mi- 
nerva, and wonder at the stupendous bulk of 
the horse; and Thymoetes first advises that 
it be dragged within the walls and lodged 
in the tower, whether with treacherous de- 
sign, or that the destiny of Troy now would 
have it so. But Capys, and all whose minds 
had wiser sentiments, strenuously urge 
either to throw into the sea the treacherous 
snare and suspected oblation of the Greeks; 
or by applying flames consume it to ashes; 
or to lay open and ransack the recesses of 



40 virgil's .eneid. book ii [41-58 

the hollow womb. The fickle populace is 
split into opposite inclinations. Upon this, 
Laocoon, accompanied with a numerous 
troop, first before all, with ardor hastens 
down from the top of the citadel; and while 
yet a great way off, [cries out,] wretched 
countrymen, what desperate infatuation is 
this? Do you believe the enemy gone? or 
think you any gifts of the Greeks can be 
free from deceit? Is Ulysses thus known to 
you ? Either the Greeks lie concealed within 
this wood, or it is an engine framed against 
our walls, to overlook our houses, and to 
come down upon our city ; or some mischiev- 
ous design lurks beneath it. Trojans, put 
no faith in this horse. Whatever it be, I 
dread the Greeks, even when they bring gifts. 
Thus said, with valiant strength he hurled 
his massy spear against the sides and belly 
of the monster, where it swelled out with 
its jointed timbers; the weapon stood quiv- 
ering, and the womb being shaken, the hol- 
low caverns rang, and sent forth a groan. 
And had not the decrees of heaven [been 
adverse], if our minds had not been in- 
fatuated, he had prevailed on us to mutilate 
with the sword this dark recess of the 
Greeks; and thou, Troy, should still have 
stood, and thou, lofty tower of Priam, now 
remained ! In the meantime, behold, Tro- 
jan shepherds, with loud acclamations, came 
dragging to the king a youth, whose hands 



59-81] VIKGII/S ^NEID. BOOK II 41 

were bound behind him: who, to them a 
mere stranger, had voluntarily thrown him- 
self in the way, to promote this same design, 
and open Troy to the Greeks; a resolute 
soul, and prepared for either event, whether 
to execute his perfidious purpose, or submit 
to inevitable death. The Trojan youth pour 
tumultuously around from every quarter, 
from eagerness to see him, and they vie with 
one another in insulting the captive. Now 
learn the treachery of the Greeks, and from 
one crime take a specimen of the whole na- 
tion. For as he stood among the gazing 
crowds perplexed, defenseless, and threw his 
eyes around the Trojan bands, Ah! says 
he, what land, what seas can now receive 
me? or to what further extremity can I, a 
forlorn wretch, be reduced, for whom there 
is no shelter anywhere among the Greeks? 
and to complete my misery, the Trojans too, 
incensed against me, sue for satisfaction 
with my blood. By which mournful accents 
our affections at once were moved towards 
him, and all our resentment suppressed: we 
exhort him to say from what race he sprang, 
to declare what message he brings, what con- 
fidence we may repose in him, now that he 
is our prisoner. Then he, having at length 
laid aside fear, thus proceeds: I indeed, 
king, will confess to you the whole truth, 
says he, be the event what will; nor will I 
disown that I api of Grecian extraction : this 



42 virgil's ^eneid. book ii [82-101 

I premise; nor shall it be in the power of 
cruel fortune, though she has made Sinon 
miserable, to make him also false and dis- 
ingenuous. If accidentally, in the course of 
report, the name of Palamedes, the descend- 
ant of Belus, and his illustrious renown, 
ever reached your ears (who, though inno- 
cent, the Greeks sent down to death, under 
a false accusation of treason, upon a villain- 
ous evidence, because he gave his opinion 
against the war [but whom] now they 
mourn bereaved of the light) ; with him 
my poor father sent me in company to the 
war, from my earliest years, being his near 
relative. While he remained safe in the 
kingdom, and had weight in the counsels of 
the princes, I too bore some reputation and 
honor: [but] from the time that he, by the 
malice of the crafty Ulysses, (they are well- 
known truths I speak,) quitted the regions 
above, I distressed dragged out my life in 
obscurity and grief, and secretly repined at 
the fate of my innocent friend. Nor could 
I hold my peace, fool that I was, but vowed 
revenge, if fortune should any way give me 
the opportunity, if ever I should return vic- 
torious to my native Argos; and, by my 
words, I provoked bitter enmity. Hence 
arose the first symptom of my misery ; hence- 
forth Ulysses was always terrifying me with 
new accusations; henceforth he began to 
spread ambiguous surmises among the vul- 



102-118] VIKGIL'S iENEID. BOOK II 43 

gar, and, conscious [of his own guilt], 
sought the means of defense. Nor did he 
give over, till, by making Calchas his tool 
— But why do I thus in vain unfold these 
disagreeables? or why do I lose time? If 
you place all the Greeks on the same foot- 
ing, and your having heard that be enough 
[to undo me], this very instant strike the 
fatal blow: this the prince of Ithaca wishes, 
and the sons of Atreus would give large 
sums to purchase. Then, indeed, we grow 
impatient to know and to find out the causes, 
unacquainted with such consummate villainy 
and Grecian artifice. He proceeds with pal- 
pitation, and speaks in the falsehood of his 
heart. After quitting Troy, the Greeks 
sought often to surmount the difficulties of 
their return, and, tired out with the length 
of the war, to be gone. And I wish they 
had! Often did the rough tempest on the 
ocean bar their flight, and the south wind 
deterred them in their setting out. Es- 
pecially when now this horse, framed of 
maple planks, was reared, storms roared 
through all the regions of the air. In per- 
plexity we send Eurypylus to consult the 
oracle of Apollo ; and from the sacred shrine 
he brings back this dismal response: Ye ap- 
peased the winds, ye Greeks, with the 
blood of a virgin slain, when first you ar- 
rived on the Trojan coast; by blood must 
your return be purchased, and atonement 



44 virgil's ^eneid. book ii [119-139 

made by the life of a Greek. Which intima- 
tion no sooner reached the ears of the mul- 
titude, than their minds were stunned, and 
freezing horror thrilled through their very 
bones; [anxious to know] whom the Fates 
destined, whom Apollo demanded. Upon 
this Ulysses drags forth Calchas the seer, 
with great bustle, into the midst of the 
crowd ; importunes him to say what that will 
of the gods may be ; and, by this time, many 
presaged to me the cruel purpose of the 
dissembler, and quietly foresaw the event. 
He, for twice five days, is mute, and close 
shut up, refuses to give forth his declaration 
against any person, or doom him to death. 
At length, with much ado, teased by the im- 
portunate clamors of Ulysses, he breaks 
silence by concert, and destines me to the 
altar. All assented, and were content to 
have what each dreaded for himself, turned 
off to the ruin of one poor wretch. And now 
the rueful day approached ; for me the sacred 
rites were prepared, and the salted cakes, 
and fillets [to bind] about my temples. 
From death, I own, I made my escape, and 
broke my bonds; and in a slimy fen all 
night I lurked obscure among the weeds, till 
they should set sail, if by chance they should 
do so. Nor have I now any hope of being 
blessed with the sight of my ancient country, 
nor of my sweet children, and my much- 
beloved sire; whom they, perhaps, will sue 



140-162] virgil's ^eneid. book ii 45 

to vengeance for my escape, and expiate this 
offense of mine by the death of those un- 
happy innocents. But I conjure you, by 
the powers above, by the gods who are con- 
scious to truth, by whatever remains of in- 
violable faith are anywhere among mortals, 
compassionate such grievous afflictions, com- 
passionate a soul suffering unworthy treat- 
ment. 

At these tears we grant him his life, and 
pity him from our hearts. Priam himself 
first gives orders that the manacles and 
strait bonds be loosed from the man, then 
thus addresses him in the language of a 
friend : Whoever you are, now henceforth 
forget the Greeks you have lost; ours you 
shall be : and give me an ingenuous reply 
to these questions: To what purpose raised 
they this stupendous bulk of a horse? who 
was the contriver? or what do they intend? 
what was the religious motive ? or what war- 
like engine is it? he said. The other, prac- 
ticed in fraud and Grecian artifice, lifted 
up to heaven his hands, loosed from the 
bonds: To j^ou, ye everlasting orbs of fire, 
he says, and your inviolable divinity; to 
you, ye altars, and horrid swords, which I 
escaped; and ye fillets of the gods, which I 
a victim wore; to you I appeal, that I am 
free to violate all the sacred obligations I 
was under to the Greeks; I am free to hold 
these men in abhorrence, and to bring forth 



46 virgil's ^bneid. book ii [163-179 

to light all their dark designs; nor am I 
bound by any of the laws of my country. 
Only do thou, Troy, abide by thy prom- 
ises, and, being preserved, preserve thy 
faith; provided I disclose the truth, pro- 
vided I make thee large amends. 

The whole hope of the Greeks, and their 
confidence in the war begun, always de- 
pended on the aid of Pallas: but when the 
sacrilegious Diomede, and Ulysses the con- 
triver of wicked designs, in their attempt 
to carry off by force from her holy temple 
the fatal Palladium, having slain the guards 
of her high tower, seized her sacred image, 
and with bloody hands dared to touch the 
virgin fillets of the goddess; from that day 
the hope of the Greeks began to ebb, and, 
losing footing, to decline : their powers were 
weakened, the mind of the goddess alien- 
ated: nor did Tritonia show these indica- 
tions [of her wrath] by dubious prodigies; 
for scarcely was the statue set up in the 
camp, when bright flames flashed from her 
staring eye-balls, and a briny sweat flowed 
over her limbs; and (wonderful to hear) 
she herself sprung thrice from the ground, 
armed as she was, with her shield and quiv- 
ering spear. Forthwith Calchas declares, 
that we must attempt the seas in flight, and 
that Troy can never be razed by the 
Grecian sword, unless they repeat the omens 
at Argos, and carry back the goddess whom 



180-203] ViRGIl/S ^ENEiD. BOOK II 47 

they had conveyed over the sea in their 
curved ships. And now, that they have sailed 
for their native Mycenae with the wind, they 
are providing themselves with arms, and 
gods to accompany them ; and, having meas- 
ured back the sea, they will come upon you 
unexpected : so Calchas interprets the omens. 
This figure, being warned, they reared in 
lieu of the Palladium, in lieu of the violated 
goddess, in order to atone for their direful 
crime. But Calchas commanded to build this 
enormous mass, and raise it to the skies, 
that it might not be admitted into the gates, 
or dragged into the city, nor protect the 
people under their ancient religion. For [he 
declared that] if your hands should violate 
this offering sacred to Minerva, then signal 
ruin (which omen may the gods rather turn 
on himself!) awaited Priam's empire and 
the Trojans. But, if by your hands it 
mounted into the city, that Asia, without 
further provocation given, would advance 
with a formidable war to the very walls of 
Pelops, and our posterity be doomed to the 
same fate. By such treachery and artifice of 
perjured Sinon, the story was believed: and 
we, whom neither Diomede, nor Larissasan 
Achilles, nor [a siege of] ten years, nor a 
thousand ships, had subdued, were insnared 
by guile and constrained tears. Here another 
greater scene, and far more terrible, is pre- 
sented to our wretched sight, and disturbs 



48 virgil's ^jneid. book ii [204-223 

our unexpecting breasts. Laocoon, ordained 
Neptune's priest by lot, was sacrificing a 
stately bullock at the altars set apart for 
that solemnity; when, lo! from Tenedos (I 
shudder at the relation) two serpents, with 
orbs immense, bear along on the sea, and 
with equal motion shoot forward to the 
shore; whose breasts erect amidst the waves, 
and crests bedropped with blood, tower above 
the flood; their other parts sweep the sea 
behind, and wind their spacious backs in 
rolling spires. A loud noise is made by 
the briny ocean foaming: and now they 
reached the shores, and, suffused with fire 
and blood as to their glaring eyes, with quiv- 
ering tongues licked their hissing mouths. 
Half-dead with the sight, we fly different 
ways. They, with resolute motion, advance 
towards Laocoon; and first both serpents, 
with close embraces, twine around the little 
bodies of his two sons, and with their fangs 
mangle their wretched limbs. Next they 
seize himself, as he is coming up with 
weapons to their relief, and bind him fast 
in their mighty folds; and now grasping 
him twice about the middle, twice winding 
their scaly backs around his neck, they over- 
top him by the head and lofty neck. He 
strains at once with his hands to tear 
asunder their knotted spires, while his fillets 
are stained with gore and black poison: at 
the same time he raises hideous shrieks to 



224-245] virgil's ^eneid. book ii 49 

heaven; such bellowing, as when a bull has 
fled wounded from the altar, and has eluded 
with his neck the missing axe. Meanwhile, 
the two serpents glide off to the high temple, 
and repair to the fane of stern Tritonia, and 
are sheltered under the feet of the goddess, 
and the orb of her buckler. Then, indeed, 
new terror diffuses itself through the quak- 
ing hearts of all; and they pronounce Lao- 
coon to have deservedly suffered for his 
crime, in having violated the sacred wood 
with his pointed weapon, and hurled his 
profane spear against its sides. They urge 
with general voice to convey the statue to 
its proper seat, and implore the favor of the 
goddess. We make a breach in the walls, 
and lay open the bulwarks of the city. All 
keenly ply their work; and under the feet 
apply smith-rolling wheels; stretch hempen 
ropes from the neck. The fatal machine 
passes over our walls, pregnant with arms; 
boys and unmarried virgins accompany it 
with sacred hymns, and are glad to touch 
the rope with their hand. It advances, and 
with menacing aspect slides into the heart 
of the city. country, Ilium, the habita- 
tation of gods, and ye walls of Troy by war 
renowned! Four times it stopped in the 
very threshold of the gate, and four times 
the arms resounded in its womb: yet we, 
heedless, and blind with frantic zeal, urge 
on, and plant the baneful monster in the 



50 Virgil's ^eneid. book ii [246-268 

sacred citadel. Then, too, Cassandra, by the 
inspiration of the god, opens her lips to our 
approaching doom, never believed by the 
Trojans. Unhappy we, to whom that day 
was to be the last, adorn the temples of the 
gods throughout the city with festive 
boughs. Meanwhile, the heavens change, 
and night advances rapidly from the ocean, 
wrapping in her extended shade both earth 
and heaven, and the wiles of the Myrmidons. 
The Trojans, dispersed about the walls, were 
hushed : deep Sleep fast binds them weary 
in his embraces. And now the Grecian host, 
in their equipped vessels, set out from Tene- 
dos, making towards the well-known shore, 
by the friendly silence of the quiet moon- 
shine, as soon as the royal [galley] stern 
had exhibited the signal fire; and Sinon, 
preserved by the will of the adverse gods, in 
a stolen hour unlocks the wooden prison to 
the Greeks shut up in its womb : the horse, 
from his expanded caverns, pours them forth 
to the open air; and with joy issue from 
the hollow wood Thessandrus and Sthenelus 
the chiefs, and dire Ulysses, sliding down by 
a suspended rope, with Athamas and Thoas, 
Neoptolemus, the grandson of Peleus, and 
Machaon who led the way, with Menelaus, 
and Epeus the very contriver of the trick. 
They assault the city buried in sleep and 
wine. The sentinels are beaten down; and 
with opened gates they receive all their 



269-290] virgil's ^neid. book ii 51 

friends, and join the conscious bands. It 
was the time when the first sleep invades 
languid mortals, and steals upon them, by 
the gift of the gods, most sweet. In my 
sleep, lo ! Hector, extremely sad, seemed to 
stand before my eyes, and to shed floods of 
tears; dragged, as formerly by the chariot, 
and black with gory dust, and his swollen 
feet bored through with thongs. Ah me! 
in what piteous plight he was ! how changed 
from that Hector who returned clad in the 
armor of Achilles, or darting Phrygian 
flames against the ships of Greece ! wearing 
a grisly beard, hair clotted with blood, and 
those many wounds which he had received 
under his native walls. I, methought, in 
tears addressed the hero first, and poured 
forth these mournful accents: light of 
Troy, Trojans' firmest hope ! what tedious 
causes have detained thee so long? Whence 
comest thou, my long-looked-for Hector? 
With what joy we behold thee after the 
many deaths of thy friends, after the vari- 
ous disasters of men and city! What un- 
worthy cause has deformed the serenity of 
thy looks ? or why do I behold these wounds ? 
He [said] not a word; nor regards me, 
questioning of what nought availed; but 
heavily, from the bottom of his heart, draw- 
ing a groan ! Ah ! fly, thou goddess-born, 
he says, and snatch thyself from these 
flames: the enemy is in possession of the 



52 virgins jEneid. book ii 1201-310 

walls; Troy falls from its towering tops. 
To Priam, to my country, all duty has been 
done. Could those walls have been saved 
by the hand, by this same hand had they 
been saved. Troy commends to thee her 
sacred things, her gods: these take com- 
panions of thy fate; for these go in quest 
of a city, which, in process of time, you shall 
erect, larger of size, after a wandering voy- 
age. He said, and with his own hands 
brings forth, from the inner temple, the 
fillets, the powerful Vesta, and the fire 
which always burned. 

Meanwhile the city is filled with mingled 
scenes of woe; and though my father An- 
chises' house stood retired, and enclosed with 
trees, louder and louder the sounds rise on 
the ear, and the horrid din of arms assails. 
I start from sleep, and, by hasty steps, gain 
the highest battlement of the palace, and 
stand with erect ears: as when a flame is 
driven by the furious south winds on stand- 
ing corn ; or as a torrent impetuously burst- 
ing in a mountain-flood desolates the fields, 
desolates the rich crops of corn, and the 
labors of the ox, and drags woods headlong 
down: the unwary shepherd, struck with the 
sound from the top of a high rock, stands 
amazed. Then, indeed, the truth is con- 
firmed, and the treachery of the Greeks dis- 
closed. Now Deiphobus' spacious house 
tumbles down, overpowered by the conflagra- 



311-333] virgil's ^neid. book ii 53 

tion; now, next to him, Ucalegon blazes: 
the straits of Sigaeum shine far and wide 
with the flames. The shout of men and 
clangor of trumpets arise. My arms I snatch 
in mad haste: nor is there in arms enough 
of reason: but all my soul burns to collect 
a troop for the war, and rush into the citadel 
with my fellows: fury and rage hurry on 
my mind, and it occurs to me how glorious 
it is to die in arms. Lo ! then Pantheus, 
escaped from the sword of the Greeks, Pan- 
theus, the son of Othrys, priest of the citadel 
and of Apollo, is hurrying away with him 
the holy utensils, the conquered gods, and 
his little grandchild, and makes for the shore 
in distraction. How is it, Pantheus, with 
the main affair? what fortress do we seize? 
I had scarcely spoken, when, with a groan, 
he thus replies: Our last day is come, and 
the inevitable doom of Troy: we are Tro- 
jans no more: adieu to Ilium, and the high 
renown of Teucer's race : fierce Jupiter hath 
transferred all to Argos: the Greeks bear 
rule in the burned city. The towering horse, 
planted in the midst of our streets, pours 
forth armed troops; and Sinon victorious, 
with insolent triumph scatters the flames. 
Others are pressing at our wide-opened 
gates, as many thousands as ever came from 
populous Mycenae: others with arms have 
blocked up the lanes to oppose our passage; 
the edged sword, with glittering point, 



54 virgil's ^eneid. book ii [334-355 

stands unsheathed, ready for dealing death: 
hardly the foremost wardens of the gates 
make an effort to fight, and resist in the 
blind encounter. By these words of Pan- 
theus, and by the impulse of the gods, I 
hurry away into flames and arms; whither 
the grim Fury, whither the din and shrieks 
that rend the skies, urge me on. Eipheus, 
and Iphitus mighty in arms, join me; Hy- 
panis and Dymas coming up with us by the 
light of the moon, and closely adhere to my 
side; and also young Coroebus, Mygdon's 
son, who at that time had chanced to come 
to Troy, inflamed with a mad passion for 
Cassandra, and [in prospect, his] son-in- 
law, brought assistance to Priam and the 
Trojans. Ill-fated youth, who heeded not 
the admonitions of his raving spouse ! 
Whom, close united, soon as I saw resolute 
to engage, to animate them the more I thus 
begin : "Youths, souls magnanimous in vain ! 
if it is your determined purpose to follow 
me in this last attempt, you see what is the 
situation of our affairs. All the gods, by 
whom this empire stood, have deserted their 
shrines and altars abandoned [to the 
enemy] : you come to the relief of the city 
in flames : let us meet death, and rush into 
the thickest of our armed foes. The only 
safety for the vanquished is to throw away 
all hopes of safety." Thus the courage of 
each youth is kindled into fury. Then, like 



356-378] VIRGIL' S .ENEID. BOOK II 55 

ravenous wolves in a gloomy fog, whom the 
fell rage of hunger hath driven forth, blind 
to danger, and whose whelps left behind 
long for their return with thirsting jaws; 
through arms, through enemies, we march 
up to imminent death, and advance through 
the middle of the city: sable Night hovers 
around us with her hollow shade. Who 
can describe in words the havoc, who the 
deaths of that night? or who can furnish 
tears equal to the disasters? Our ancient 
city, having borne sway for many years, falls 
to the ground: great numbers of sluggish 
carcasses are strewn up and down, both in 
the streets, in the houses, and the sacred 
thresholds of the gods. Nor do the Trojans 
alone pay the penalty with their blood: the 
vanquished too at times resume courage in 
their hearts, and the victorious Grecians 
fall : everywhere is cruel sorrow, everywhere 
terror and death in thousand shapes. Andro- 
geos first comes up with us, accompanied by 
a numerous band of Greeks, inadvisedly 
imagining that we were confederate troops; 
and he introduces himself to us with this 
friendly address : Haste, men ; what so tardy 
sloth detains you? Others tear and plunder 
the blazing towers of Troy: are you but just 
come from your lofty ships? He said, and 
instantly perceived (for we returned him no 
very trusty answer) that he had stumbled 
into the midst of foes. He was confounded, 



56 virgil's ^eneid. book ii [379-401 

and with his words recalled his step. As 
one who, in his walk, hath trodden upon a 
snake unseen in the rough thorns, and in 
fearful haste hath started back from him, 
while he is collecting all his rage, and swell- 
ing his azure crest; just so Androgeos, ter- 
rified at the sight [of us], began to with- 
draw. We rush in, and pour around with 
arms close joined, and knock them down 
here and there, strangers as they were to 
the place, and possessed with fear: fortune 
smiles upon our first enterprise. Upon this 
Corcebus, exulting with success and courage, 
cried out, My fellows, where fortune thus 
early points out our way to safety, and where 
she shows herself propitious, let us follow. 
Let us exchange shields, and fit to ourselves 
the badges of the Greeks : whether stratagem 
or valor, who questions in an enemy? they 
themselves will supply us with arms. This 
said, he puts on the crested helmet of An- 
drogeos, and the rich ornament of his shield, 
and buckles to his side a Grecian sword. 
The same does Eipheus, the same does 
Dymas too, and all the youth well pleased: 
each arms himself with the recent spoils. 
We march on, mingling with the Greeks, 
but not with heaven on our side; and in 
many a skirmish we engage during the dark 
night; many of the Greeks we send down to 
Hades. Some fly to the ships, and hasten 
to the trusty shore; some, through dishonest 



402-423] virgil's ^neid. book ii 57 

fear, scale once more the bulky horse, and 
lurk within the well-known womb. Alas ! on 
nothing ought man to presume, while the 
gods are against him ! Lo ! Cassandra, 
Priam's virgin daughter, with her hair di- 
shevelled, was dragged along from the temple 
and shrine of Minerva, raising to heaven 
her glaring eyes in vain ; her eyes — f or cords 
bound her tender hands. Coroebus, in the 
madness of his soul, could not bear this spec- 
tacle, and, resolved to perish, threw himself 
into the midst of the band. "We all follow, 
and rush upon them in close array. Upon 
this we are first overpowered with the darts 
of our friends from the high summit of the 
temple, and a most hideous slaughter ensues, 
through the appearance of our arms, and the 
disguise of our Grecian crests. Xext the 
Greeks, through anguish and rage for the 
rescue of the virgin, fall upon us in troops 
from every quarter; Ajax, most fierce, both 
the sons of Atreus, and the whole band of 
the Dolopes: as, at times, in a burst hurri- 
cane, opposite winds encounter, the west 
and south, and Eurus, proud of his eastern 
steeds; the woods creak, foaming Xereus 
rages with his trident, and rouses the seas 
from the lowest bottom. They, too, whom, 
through the shades, in the dusky night, we 
by stratagem had routed, and driven all over 
the city, make their appearance; they are 
the first who discover our shields and coun- 



58 virgil's ^eneid. book ii [424-445 

terfeit arms, and mark our voices in sound 
discordant with their own. In a moment 
we are overpowered by numbers; and first 
Corcebus sinks in death by the hand of Pene- 
leus, at the altar of the warrior-goddess: 
Kipheus too falls, the most just among the 
Trojans, and of the strictest integrity: but 
to the gods it seemed otherwise. Hypanis 
and Dymas die by the cruel darts of their 
own friends, nor did thy signal piety, nor 
the fillets of Apollo, save thee, Pantheus, in 
thy dying hour. Ye ashes of Troy, ye expir- 
ing flames of my country! witness, that in 
your fall I shunned neither darts nor any 
deadly chances of the Greeks; and, had it 
been fated that I should fall, I deserved it 
by my hand. Thence we are forced away, 
Iphitus, Pelias, and myself (of whom Iphi- 
tus was now unwieldy through age, and 
Pelias disabled by a wound from Ulysses,) 
forthwith to Priam's palace called by the 
outcries. Here, indeed, [we beheld] a dread- 
ful fight, as though this had been the only 
seat of the war, as though none had been 
dying in all the city besides; with such un- 
governed fury we see Mars raging and the 
Greeks rushing forward to the palace, and 
the gates besieged by an advancing testudo. 
Scaling ladders are fixed against the walls, 
and by their steps they mount to the very 
door-posts, and protecting themselves by 
their left arms, oppose their bucklers to the 



446-469] virgil's ^neid. book ii 59 

darts, [while] with their right hands they 
grasp the battlements. On the other hand, 
the Trojans tear down the turrets and roofs 
of their houses; with these weapons, since 
they see the extremity, they seek to defend 
themselves now in their last death-struggle, 
and tumble down the gilded rafters, those 
stately ornaments of their ancestors; others 
with drawn swords beset the gates below; 
these they guard in a firm, compact body. 
Our ardor is restored to relieve the royal 
palace, support our friends with aid, and 
impart fresh strength to the vanquished. 
There was a passage, a secret entry, a free 
communication between the palaces of 
Priam, a neglected posterm-gate, by which 
unfortunate Andromache, while the kingdom 
stood, was often wont to resort to her par- 
ents-in-law without retinue, and to lead the 
boy Astyanax to his grand-sire. I mount up 
to the roof of the highest battlement, whence 
the distressed Trojans were hurling unavail- 
ing darts. With our swords assailing all 
around a turret, situated on a precipice, and 
shooting up its towering top to the stars, 
(whence we were wont to survey all Troy, 
the fleet of Greece, and all the Grecian 
camp,) where the topmost story made the 
joints more apt to give way, we tear it from 
its deep foundation, and push it on [our 
foes]. Suddenly tumbling down, it brings 
thundering desolation with it, and falls with 



60 virgil's .eneid. book ii [470-489 

wide havoc on the Grecian troops. But others 
succeed: meanwhile, neither stones, nor any 
sort of missile weapons, cease to fly. Just 
before the vestibule, and at the outer gate, 
Pyrrhus exults, glittering in arms and 
gleamy brass; as when a snake [comes forth] 
to light, having fed on noxious herbs, whom, 
bloated [with poison], the frozen winter hid 
under the earth, now renewed, and sleek 
with youth, after casting his skin, with 
breast erect he rolls up his slippery back, 
reared to the sun, and brandishes a three- 
forked tongue in his mouth. At the same 
time bulky Periphas and Automedon, 
charioteer to Achilles, [now Pyrrhus'] ar- 
mor-bearer; at the same all the youth from 
Scyros advance to the wall, and toss brands 
to the roof. Pyrrhus himself in the front, 
snatching up a battle-axe, beats through the 
stubborn gates, and labors to tear the brazen 
posts from the hinges; and now, having 
hewn away the bars, he dug through the firm 
boards, and made a large, wide-mouthed 
breach. The palace within is exposed to view, 
and the long galleries are discovered: the 
sacred recesses of Priam and the ancient 
kings are exposed to view; and they see 
armed men standing at the gate. 

As for the inner palace, it is filled with 
mingled groans and doleful uproar, and the 
hollow rooms all throughout howl with fe- 
male j'ells: their shrieks strike the golden 



490-508] virgil's ;eneid. book n 61 

stars. Then the trembling matrons roam 
through the spacious halls, and in embraces 
hug the door-posts, and cling to them with 
their lips. Pyrrhus presses on with all his 
father's violence : nor bolts, nor guards them- 
selves, are able to sustain. The gate, by 
repeated battering blows, gives way, and the 
door-posts, torn from their hinges, tumble 
to the ground. The Greeks make their way 
by force, burst a passage, and, being ad- 
mitted, butcher the first they meet, and fill 
the places all about with their troops. Not 
with such fury a river pours on the fields 
its heavy torrent, and sweeps away herds 
with their stalls all over the plains, when 
foaming it has burst away from its broken 
banks, and borne down opposing mounds 
with its whirling current. I myself have 
beheld Neoptolemus raving with bloody rage, 
and the two sons of Atreus at the gate: I 
have beheld Hecuba, and her hundred 
daughters-in-law, and Priam at the altar, de- 
filing with his blood the fires which himself 
had consecrated. Those fifty bed-chambers, 
so great hopes of descendants, those doors, 
that proudly shone with barbaric gold and 
spoils, were leveled with the ground: where 
the flames relent, the Greeks take place. 

Perhaps, too, you are curious to hear 
what was Priam's fate. As soon as he beheld 
the catastrophe of the taken city, and his 
palace gates broken down, and the enemy 



62 virgil's .eneid. book ii [509-531 

planted in the middle of his private apart- 
ments, the aged monarch, with unavailing 
aim, buckles on his shoulders (trembling 
with years) arms long disused, girds himself 
with his useless sword, and rushes into the 
thickest of the foes, resolute on death. In 
the center of the palace, and under the bare 
canopy of heaven, stood a large altar, and 
an aged laurel near it, overhanging the altar, 
and encircling the household gods with its 
shade. Here Hecuba and her daughters 
(like pigeons flying precipitantly from a 
blackening tempest) crowded together, and 
embracing the shrines of the gods, vainly sat 
round the altars. But as soon as she saw 
Priam clad in youthful arms, unhappy 
spouse, she cries, What dire purpose has 
prompted thee to brace on these arms? or 
whither art thou hurrying? The present 
conjecture hath no need of such aid, nor 
such defense: though even my Hector him- 
self were here [it would not avail]. Hither 
repair, now that all hope is lost; this altar 
will protect us all, or here you [and we] 
shall die together. Having thus said, she 
took the old man to her embraces, and placed 
him on the sacred seat. But lo ! Polites, one 
of Priam's sons, who had escaped from the 
sword of Pyrrhus, through darts, through 
foes, flies along the long galleries, and 
wounded traverses the waste halls. Pyrrhus, 
all on fire, pursues him with the hostile 



532-551] virgil's ^eneid. book ii 63 

weapon, is just grasping him with his hand, 
and presses on him with the spear. Soon as 
he at length got into the sight and presence 
of his parents, he dropped down, and poured 
out his life with a stream of blood. Upon 
this, Priam, though now held in the very 
midst of death, yet did not forbear, nor 
spared his tongue and passion: But may 
the gods, he cries, if there be any justice in 
heaven to regard such events, give ample 
retribution and due reward for this wicked- 
ness, for these thy audacious crimes, to thee 
who hast made me to witness the death of 
my own son, and defiled a father's eyes with 
the sight of blood; yet he from whom you 
falsely claim your birth, even Achilles, was 
not thus barbarous to Priam, though his 
enemy, but paid some reverence to the laws 
of nations, and a suppliant's right, restored 
my Hector's lifeless corpse to be buried, and 
sent me back into my kingdom. Thus spoke 
the old man, and, without any force, threw 
a feeble dart: which was instantly repelled 
by the hoarse brass, and hung on the high- 
est boss of the buckler without any execu- 
tion. To whom Pyrrhus replies, These tid- 
ings then yourself shalt bear, and go with 
the message to my father, the son of Peleus : 
forget not to inform him of my cruel deeds, 
and of his degenerate son Neoptolemus : now 
die. With these words he dragged him to 
the very altar, trembling and sliding in the 



64 virgil/s ^neid. book ii [552-574 

streaming gore of his son : and with his left 
hand grasped his twisted hair, and with his 
right unsheathed his glittering sword, and 
plunged it into his side up to the hilt. Such 
was the end of Priam's fate: this was the 
final doom allotted to him, having before his 
eyes Troy consumed, and its towers laid in 
ruins ; once the proud monarch over so many 
nations and countries of Asia: now his 
mighty trunk lies extended on the shore, 
the head torn from the shoulders, and a 
nameless corpse. Then, and not till then, 
fierce horror assailed me round: I stood 
aghast; the image of my dear father arose 
to my mind, when I saw the king, of equal 
age, breathing out his soul by a cruel wound ; 
Creiisa, forsaken, came into mind, my rifled 
house, and the fate of the little lulus. I 
look about, and survey what troops were to 
stand by me. All had left me through de- 
spair, and flung their fainting bodies to the 
ground, or gave them to the flames, And 
thus now I remained all alone, when I espy 
Helen keeping watch in the temple of Vesta, 
and silently lurking in a secret corner: the 
bright flames give me light as I am roving 
on, and throwing my eyes around on every 
object. She, the common Fury of Troy and 
her country, dreading the Trojans, her 
deadly foes, upon account of their ruined 
country, and the vengeance of the Greeks, 
with the fierce resentment of her deserted 



575-596] virgil's ^eneid. book ii 65 

lord, had hidden herself, and was sitting 
near the altars, an odious sight. Flames were 
kindled in my soul: rage possessed me to 
avenge my falling country, and take the 
vengeance her guilt deserved. Shall she then 
with impunity behold Sparta and her coun- 
try Mycenae, and go off a queen, after she 
has gained her triumph? shall she see her 
marriage-bed, her home, her fathers, her 
sons, accompanied with a retinue of Trojan 
dames and Phrygian women her slaves? 
shall Priam have fallen by the sword, shall 
Troy have burnt with the flame, shall the 
Trojan shore so often be drenched in blood? 
It must not be so: for though there be no 
memorable name in punishing a woman, nor 
any honor in such a victory, yet shall I be 
applauded for having extinguished a wicked 
wretch, and for inflicting on her the punish- 
ment she deserves : besides, it will be a pleas- 
ure to gratify my desire of burning revenge, 
and to give satisfaction to the ashes of my 
friends. Thus was I rapidly reflecting, and 
furiously agitated in my soul, when my be- 
nign mother presented herself to my view 
with such brightness as I had never seen 
before, and amidst the night shone forth 
in pure light, displaying all the goddess, 
with such dignity, such stature, as she is 
wont to show to the immortals: she re- 
strained me fast held by the right hand, 
and besides, let fall these words from her 



66 virgil's ^neid. book ii [597-616 

rosy lips: My son, what high provocation 
kindles thy ungoverned rage? why art thou 
raving? or whither art thy regards to me 
fled? Will you not first see in what situa- 
tion you have left your father Anchises, en- 
cumbered with age? whether your spouse 
Creiisa be in life, and the boy Ascanius, 
around whom the Grecian troops from every 
quarter reel? and, do not my care oppose, 
the flames will have already carried off, or 
the cruel sword inbibed their blood. Not the 
features of Lacedaemonian Helen, odious in 
your eyes, nor Paris blamed; but the gods, 
the unrelenting gods, overthrow this power- 
ful realm, and level the towering tops of 
Troy with the ground. Turn your eyes; 
for I will dissipate every cloud which now, 
intercepting the view, bedims your mortal 
sight, and spreads a humid veil of mist 
around you: fear not you the commands of 
a parent, nor refuse to obey her orders. Here, 
where you see scattered ruins, and stones 
torn from stones, and smoke in waves ascend- 
ing with mingled dust, Neptune shakes the 
walls and foundations loosened by his mighty 
trident, and overturns the whole city from 
its basia. Here Juno, extremely fierce, is 
posted in the front to guard the Scaean gate, 
and, girt with the sword, with furious sum- 
mons calls from the ships her social band. 
Tritonian Pallas (see!) hath now planted 
herself on a lofty turret, refulgent in a 



617-639] virgil's ^neid. book ii 67 

cloud, and with her Gorgon terrible. The 
Sire himself supplies the Greeks with cour- 
age and strength for victory: himself stirs 
up the gods against the arms of Troy. Speed 
thy flight, my son, and put a period to thy 
toils. In every danger I will stand by you, 
and safe set you down in your father's palace. 
She said, and hid herself in the thick shades 
of night. Direful forms appear, and the 
mighty powers of the gods, adverse to Troy. 
Then, indeed, all Ilium seemed to me at 
once to sink in the flames, and Troy, built 
by Neptune, to be overturned from its low- 
est foundation: even as when with emulous 
keenness the swains labor to fell an ash 
that long hath stood on a high mountain, 
hewing it about with iron and many an axe, 
ever and anon it threatens, and waving its 
locks, nods with its shaken top, till grad- 
ually by wounds subdued, it hath groaned 
its last, and torn from the ridge of the moun- 
tain, draws along with it ruin. Down I 
come, and under the conduct of the god, 
clear my way amidst flames and foes: the 
darts give place, and the flames retire. And 
now, when arrived at the gates of my pa- 
ternal seat and ancient house, my father, 
whom I was desirous first to remove to the 
high mountains, and whom I first sought*, 
obstinately refuses to prolong his life after 
the ruin of Troy, and to suffer exile. You, 
says he, who are full of youthful blood, and 



68 virgil's ^neid. book ii [640-662 

whose powers remain firm in all their 
strength, do you attempt your flight. As 
for me, had the powers of heaven designed 
I should prolong my life, they had preserved 
to me this house : enough it is, and more 
than enough, that I have seen one catas- 
trophe, and outlived the taking of this city. 
Thus, oh leave me thus with the last farewell 
to my body laid in its dying posture. With 
tins hand will I find death myself. The 
enemy will pity me, and lust for my spoils. 
Trivial is the loss of sepulture. I have long 
since been lingering out a. length of years, 
hated by the gods, and useless from the time 
when the father of gods, and sovereign of 
men, blasted me with the wmds of his thun- 
der, and struck me with lightning. 

Such purpose declaring, he persisted, and 
remained unalterable. On the other hand, 
I, my wife Creiisa, Ascanius, and the whole 
family, bursting forth into tears, [besought] 
my father not to involve all with himself, 
nor hasten our impending fate. He still re- 
fuses, and perseveres in his purpose, and in 
the same settled position. Once more I fly 
to my arms, and, in extremity of distress, 
long for death: for what expedient had I 
left, or what chance of hope? Could you 
hope, sire, that I could stir one foot while 
you were left behind? could such immety 
drop from a parent's lips? If it is the will 
of the gods that nothing of this great city 



663-680] virgil's .eneid. book ii 69 

be preserved ; if this be your settled purpose, 
and you will even involve yourself and yours 
in the wreck of Troy; the way lies open to 
that death of which you are so fond. Forth- 
with Pyrrhus, [reeking] from the effusion 
of Priam's blood, will be here, who kills the 
son before the father's eyes, and then the 
father at the altar. Was it for this, my 
benign mother, you saved me through darts, 
through flames, to see the enemy in the 
midst of these recesses, and to see Ascanius, 
my father, and Creusa by his side, butchered 
in one another's blood? Arms, my men, 
bring arms ; this day, which is our last, calls 
upon us, vanquished as we are. Give me 
back to the Greeks : let me visit once more 
the fight renewed: never shall we all die 
unrevenged this day. 

Thus I again gird on my sword: and I 
thrust my left hand into my buckler, bracing 
it fitly on, and rushed out of the palace. 
But lo ! my wife clung to me in the threshold, 
grasping my feet, and held out to his father 
the little lulus: If, [says she,] you go with 
a resolution to perish, snatch us with you 
to share all : but if, from experience, you 
repose confidence in those arms you have 
assumed, let this house have your first pro- 
tection : To whom are you abandoning the 
tender lulus, your sire, and me once called 
your wife? Thus loudly expostulating, she 
filled the whole palace with her groans, when 



70 virgil's ^eneid. book ii [681-703 

a sudden and wondrous prodigy arises: for 
amid the embraces and parting words of his 
mourning parents, lo ! the fluttering tuft 
from the top of lulus' head is seen to emit 
light, and with gentle touch the lambent 
flame glides harmless along his hair, and 
feeds around his temples. We, quaking, 
trembled for fear, brush the blazing locks, 
and quench the holy fire with fountain- 
water. But father Anchises joyful raised 
his eyes to the stars, and stretched his hands 
to heaven with his voice; Almighty Jove, if 
thou art moved with any supplications, 
vouchsafe to regard us; we ask no more: 
and sire, if by our piety we deserve it, 
grant us then thy aid, and ratify these 
omens. Scarcely had my aged sire thus said, 
when, with a sudden peal, it thundered on 
the left, and a star, that fell from the skies, 
drawing a fiery train, shot through the shade 
with a profusion of light. We could see it, 
gliding over the high tops of the palace, 
lose itself in the woods of Mount Ida, full 
in our view, and marking out the way : then 
all along its course an indented path shines, 
and all the place, a great way round, smokes 
with sulphureous steams. And now my 
father, overcome, raises himself to heaven, 
addresses the gods, and pays adoration to 
the holy star : Now, now is no delay : I am 
all submission, and where you lead the way 
I am with you. Ye gods of my fathers, save 



704-724] virgil's ^neid. book ii 71 

our family, save my grandson. From you 
this omen came, and Troy is at your dis- 
posal. Now, son, I resign myself indeed, 
nor refuse to accompany you in your expe- 
dition. He said, and now throughout the 
city the flames are more distinctly heard, 
and the conflagration rolls the torrents of 
fire nearer. Come then, dearest father, place 
yourself on my neck; with these shoulders 
will I support you, nor shall that burden 
oppress me. However things fall out, we 
both shall share either one common danger 
or one preservation: let the boy lulus be 
my companion, and my wife may trace my 
steps at some distance. Ye servants, heed- 
fully attend to what I say. In your way 
from the city is a rising ground, and an 
ancient temple of deserted Ceres; and near 
it an aged cypres^ preserved for many years 
by the religious veneration of our fore- 
fathers. To this one seat by several ways 
we will repair. Do you, father, take in thy 
hand the sacred symbols, and the gods of 
our country. For me, just come from war, 
from so fierce and recent bloodshed, to touch 
them would be profanation, till I have puri- 
fied myself in the living stream. This said, 
I spread a garment and a tawny lion's hide 
over my broad shoulders and submissive 
neck; and stoop to the burden: little lulus 
is linked in my right hand, and trips after 
his father with unequal steps: my spouse 



72 virgil's .eneid. book ii [725-746 

comes up behind. We haste away through 
the gloomy paths: and I, whom lately no 
showers of darts could move, nor Greeks 
enclosing me in a hostile baud, and now 
terrified with every breath of wind; every 
sound alarms me anxious, and equally in 
dread for my companion and my burden. 
By this time I approached the gates, and 
thought I had overpassed all the way, when 
suddenly a thick sound of feet seems to 
invade my ears just at hand ; and my father, 
stretching his eyes through the gloom, calls 
aloud, Fly, fly, my son, they are upon you: 
I see the burnished shields and glittering 
grass. Here, in my consternation, some un- 
friendly diety or other confounded and be- 
reaved me of my reason; for while in my 
journey I trace the by-paths, and forsake 
the known beaten tracks, alas! I know not 
whether my wife Creiisa was snatched from 
wretched me by cruel fate, or lost her way, 
or through fatigue stopped short; nor did 
these eyes ever see her more. Nor did I 
observe that she was lost, or reflect with 
myself, till we were come to the rising 
ground, and the sacred seat of ancient Ceres : 
here, at length, when all were convened, she 
alone was wanting, and gave disappointment 
to all our retinue, especially to her son and 
husband. Whom did I frantic not accuse, 
of gods or men? or of what more cruel 
scene was I a spectator in all the desolation 



747-769] VIRGIL S ^NEID. BOOK II 73 

of the city? To my friends I commend 
Ascanius, my father Anchises, with the gods 
of Troy, and lodge them secretly in a wind- 
ing valley. I myself repair back to the city, 
and brace on my shining armor. I am re- 
solved to renew every adventure, revisit all 
the quarters of Troy, and expose my life 
once more to all dangers. First of all, I 
return to the walls, and the dark entry of 
the gate by which I had set out, and back- 
ward unravel my steps with care amidst 
the darkness, and run them over with my 
eye. Horror on all sides, and at the same 
time the very silence affrights my soul. 
Thence homeward I bent my way, lest by 
chance, by any chance, she had moved 
thither : the Greeks had now rushed in, and 
were masters of the whole house. In a 
moment the devouring conflagration is rolled 
up in sheets by the wind to the lofty roof; 
the flames mount above ; the fiery whirlwind 
rages to the skies. I advance, and revisit 
Priam's royal seat, and the citadel. And 
now in the desolate cloisters, Juno's sanc- 
tuary, Phoenix and the execrable Ulysses, a 
chosen guard, were watching the booty: 
hither, from all quarters, the precious Tro- 
jan movables, saved from the conflagration 
of the temples, the tables of the gods, the 
massy golden goblets, and plundered vest- 
ments, are amassed : boys, and timorous 
matrons, stand all around in a long train. 



74 VIRGIL'S .ENEID. BOOK II [770-787 

Now adventuring even to dart my voice 
through the shades, I filled the streets with 
outcry, and in anguish, with vain repetition, 
again and again, called on Creusa. While I 
was in this search, and with incessant fury 
ranging through all quarters of the town, 
the mournful ghost and shade of my Creiisa's 
self appeared before my eyes, her figure 
larger than I had known it. I stood aghast ! 
my hair rose on end, and my voice clung 
to my jaws. Then thus she bespeaks me, 
and relieves my cares with these words : My 
darling spouse, what pleasure have you thus 
to indulge a grief which is but madness? 
These events do not occur without the will 
of the gods. It is not allowed you to carry 
Creusa hence to accompany you, nor is it 
permitted by the great ruler of heaven su- 
preme. In long banishment you must roam, 
and plow the vast expanse of the ocean: 
to the land of Hesperia you shall come, 
where the Lydian Tiber, with his gentle cur- 
rent, glides through a rich land of heroes. 
There, prosperous state, a crown, and royal 
spouse, await you; dry up your tears for 
your beloved Creusa. I, of Dardanus noble 
line, and the daughter-in-law of divine 
Venus, shall not see the proud seats of the 
Myrmidons and Dolopes, nor go to serve 
the Grecian dames; but the great mother of 
the gods detains me upon these coasts. And 



788-804] virgil's ^neid. book ii 75 

now farewell, and preserve your affection to 
our common son. 

With these words she left me in tears, 
ready to say many things, and vanished into 
thin air. There thrice I attempted to throw 
my arms around her neck; thrice the phan- 
tom, grasped in vain, escaped my hold, swift 
as the winged winds, and resembling most 
a fleeting dream. Thus having spent the 
night, I at length revisit my associates. And 
here, to my surprise, I found a great conflu- 
ence of new companions : matrons, and men, 
and youths, drawn together to share our 
exile, a piteous throng ! From all sides they 
convened, resolute [to follow me] with their 
souls and fortunes, into whatever country 
I was inclined to conduct them over the sea. 
By this time, the bright morning star was 
rising on the craggy tops of lofty Ida, and 
ushered in the day: the Greeks held the 
entrance of the gates blocked up; nor had 
we any prospect of relief. I gave way, and 
bearing up my father, made towards the 
mountain, 



76 VIBGIL'S iENEID. BOOK III [1-16 



BOOK III 

In the Third Book, iEneas continues his narration, by a 
minute account of his voyage, the places he visited, 
and the perils he encountered, from the time of leav- 
ing the shores of Troas, until he landed at Drepanum, 
in Sicily, where he buried his father. — This Book, 
which comprehends a period of about seven years, ends 
with the dreadful storm, with the description of which 
the First Book opened. 

After it had seemed fit to the gods to 
overthrow the power of Asia, and Priam's 
race, undeserving [of such a fate], and 
stately Ilium fell, and while the whole of 
Troy, built by Neptune, smokes on the 
ground; we are determined, by revelations 
from the gods, to go in quest of distant 
retreats in exile, and unpeopled lands; we 
fit out a fleet just under the walls of Antan- 
dros and the mountains of Phrygian Ida; 
and draw our forces together, uncertain 
whither the Fates point our way, where it 
shall be given us to settle. Scarcely had the 
first summer begun, when my father An- 
chises gave command to hoist the sails, in 
accordance with the Fates. Then with tears 
I leave the shores and ports of my country, 
and the plains where Troy once stood: an 
exile I launch forth into the deep, with my 
associates, my son, my household gods, and 
the great gods [of my country]. 

At a distance lies a martial land, peopled 
throughout its wide-extended plains, (the 



17-39] virgil's ^neid. book hi 77 

Thracians cultivate the soil,) over which in 
former times fierce Lycurgus reigned: an 
ancient hospitable retreat for Troy, and 
whose gods were leagued with ours, while 
fortune was with us. Hither I am carried, 
and erect my first walls along the winding 
shore, entering with Fates unkind ; and from 
my own name I call the citizens iEneades. 
I was performing sacred rites to my mother 
Venus, and the gods, the patrons of my 
works begun; and to the exalted king of 
the immortals I was sacrificing a sleek bull 
on the shore. Xear at hand there chanced 
to be a rising ground, on whose top were 
young cornel-trees, and a myrtle rough with 
thick spear-like branches. I came up to it, 
and attempting to tear from the earth the 
verdant wood, that I might cover the altars 
with the leafy boughs, I observe a dreadful 
prodigy, and wondrous to relate. For from 
that tree which first is torn from the soil, 
its rooted fibers being burst asunder, drops 
of black blood distill, and stain the ground 
with gore : cold terror shakes my limbs, and 
my chill blood is congealed with fear. I 
again essay to tear off a limber bough from 
another, and thoroughly explore the latent 
cause : and from the rind of that other the 
purple blood descends. Raising in my mind 
many an anxious thought, I with reverence 
besought the rural nymphs, and father Mars, 
who presides over the Thracian territories, 



78 virgil's jeneid. book hi [40-57 

kindly to prosper the vision and avert evil 
from the omen. But when I attempted the 
boughs a third time with a more vigorous 
effort, and on my knees struggled against 
the opposing mold, (shall I speak, or shall 
I forbear?) a piteous groan is heard from 
the bottom of the rising ground, and a voice 
sent forth reaches my ears : ^Eneas, why dost 
thou tear an unhappy wretch? Spare me, 
now that I am in my grave; forbear to pol- 
lute with guilt thy pious hands: Troy 
brought me forth no stranger to you; nor 
is it from the trunk this blood distills. Ah, 
fly this barbarous land, fly the avaricious 
shore! For Polydore am I: here an iron 
crop of darts hath overwhelmed me, trans- 
fixed, and over me shot up in pointed jave- 
lins. Then, indeed, depressed at heart with 
perplexing fear, I was stunned; my hair 
stood on end, and my voice clung to my 
jaws. This Polydore unhappy Priam had 
formerly sent in secrecy with a great weight 
of gold to be brought up by the king of 
Thrace, when he now began to distrust the 
arms of Troy, and saw the city with close 
siege blocked up. He, as soon as the power 
of the Trojans were crushed, and their for- 
tune gone, espousing Agamemnon's interest 
and victorious arms, breaks every sacred 
bond, assassinates Polydore, and by violence 
possesses his gold. Cursed thirst of gold, to 
what dost thou not drive the hearts of men ! 



58-78] virgil's ^neid. book hi 79 

After fear left my bones, I report the por- 
tents of the gods to our chosen leaders, and 
chiefly to my father, and demand what their 
opinion is. All are unanimous to quit that 
accursed land, abandon the polluted society, 
and spread the sails to the winds. There- 
fore we renew funeral ceremonies to Poly- 
dore, and a large mound of earth is heaped 
up for the tomb : an altar is reared to his 
manes, mournfully decked with leaden-col- 
ored wreaths and gloomy cypress ; and round 
it the Trojan matrons stand with hair di- 
sheveled according to custom. We offer the sac- 
rifices of the dead, bowls foaming with warm 
milk, and goblets of the sacred blood : we give 
the soul repose in the grave, and with loud 
voice address to him the last farewell. 

This done, when first we durst confide in 
the main, when the winds present peaceful 
seas, and the south wind in soft whispering 
gales invites us to the deep, my mates launch 
the ships and crowd the shore. "We are 
wafted from the port, and the land and 
cities retreat. 

Amidst the sea there lies a charming spot 
of land, sacred to [Doris], (the mother of 
the Nereids,) and iEgean Neptune; which 
once wandering about the coasts and shores, 
the pious god who wields the bow fast bound 
with high Gyaros and Mycone, and fixed it 
so as to be habitable, and mock the winds. 
Hither I am led: this most peaceful island 



80 virgil's ^eneid. book hi [79-103 

receives us to a safe port after our fatigue. 
At landing we pay veneration to the city of 
Apollo. King Anius, both king of men and 
priest of Phoebus, his temples bound with 
fillets and sacred laurel, comes up, and pres- 
ently recognizes his old friend Anchises. We 
join right hands in amity, and come under 
his roof. I venerated the temple of the god, 
a structure of ancient stone, [and thus 
began] : Thymbraean Apollo, grant us, after 
all our toils, some fixed mansion; grant us 
walls of defense, offspring, and a permanent 
city: preserve those other towers of Troy, a 
remnant left by the Greeks and merciless 
Achilles. Whom are we to follow ; or whither 
dost thou bid us go? where fix our resi- 
dence? Father, grant us a prophetic sign, 
and glide into our minds. Scarcely had I 
thus said, when suddenly all seemed to 
tremble, both the temple itself, and laurel 
of the god; the whole mountain quaked 
around, and the sanctuary being exposed to 
view, the tripod moaned. In humble rever- 
ence we fall to the ground, and a voice 
reaches our ears: Ye hardy sons of Dar- 
danus, the same land which first produced 
you from your forefather's stock, shall re- 
ceive you in its fertile bosom after all your 
dangers; search out your ancient mother. 
There the family of JEneas shall rule over 
every coast, and his children's children, and 
they who from them shall spring. 



104-121] VIRGIL S .ENEID. BOOK III 81 

Thus Phoebus. Emotions of great joy, 
with mingled tumult, arose; and all were 
seeking to know what city is designed; 
whither Phoebus calls us wandering, and 
wills us to return. Then my father, revolv- 
ing the historical records of ancient heroes, 
says, Ye leaders, give ear, and learn what 
you have to hope for. In the middle of the 
sea lies Crete, the island of mighty Jupiter, 
where is Mount Ida, and the nursery of our 
race. The Cretans inhabit a hundred mighty 
cities, most fertile realms: whence our 
mighty ancestor Teucrus, if I rightly re- 
member the tradition, first arrived on the 
Ehoetean coasts, and chose the seat of his 
kingdom. No Ilium then nor towers of Per- 
gamus were raised; in the deep vales they 
dwelt. Hence came mother Cybele, the pa- 
troness of the earth, and the brazen cymbals 
of the Corybantes, and the Idaean grove; 
hence that faithful secrecy in her sacred 
rites : and harnessed lions were yoked in the 
chariot of their queen. Come, then, and, 
where the commands of the gods point out 
our way, let us follow; let us appease the 
winds, and seek the Gnossian realms. Nor 
lie they at the distance of a long voyage: 
provided Jove be with us, the third day will 
land our fleet on the Cretan coast. 

This said, he offered the proper sacrifices 
on the altars, a bull to Neptune, a bull to 
thee, fair Apollo: a black sheep to the 



82 virgil's jENeid. book hi [122-141 

Winter, and a white one to the propitious 
zephyrs. A report flies abroad, that leader 
Idomeneus banished, hath quitted his pater- 
nal kingdom, and that the shore of Crete 
is deserted; that its mansions are free from 
the enemy, and palaces stand forsaken. We 
leave the port of Ortygia, and scud along 
the sea: we cruise along Naxos, (on whose 
mountains the Bacchanals revel,) green 
Donysa, Olearos, snowy Paros, and the Cy- 
clades scattered up and down the main, and 
narrow seas thick-sown with clustered is- 
lands. With various emulation the seamen's 
shouts arise. The crew animate one another : 
For Crete and our ancestors let us speed 
our course. A wind springing up astern, ac- 
companies us on our way, and we at length 
skim along to the ancient seats of the Cu- 
retes. Therefore, with eagerness, I raise 
the walls of the so-much-looked-for city, and 
call it the city of Pergamus; and I exhort 
my colony, pleased with the name, to love 
their hearths, and erect turrets on their 
roofs. And now the ships were mostly 
drawn up on the dry beach : the youth were 
engaged in their nuptials and new settle- 
ments; I was beginning to dispense laws 
and appropriate houses; when suddenly, 
from the infection of the climate, a wasting 
and lamentable plague seized our limbs, the 
trees, and corn; and the year was pregnant 
with death. Men left their sweet lives, or 



142-161] virgil/s .eneid. BOOK III 83 

dragged along their sickly bodies: at the 
same time the dog-star burned up the barren 
fields: the herbs were parched, and the un- 
wholesome grain denied us sustenance. My 
father advises, that, measuring back the sea, 
we again apply to the oracle of Ortygia, and 
Apollo, and implore his grace, [to know] 
what end he will bring to our forlorn state; 
whence he will bid us attempt a redress of 
our calamities, whither turn our course. 

It was night, and sleep reigned over the 
animal world. The sacred images of the 
gods, and the tutelar deities of Phrygia, 
whom I had brought with me from Troy 
and the midst of the flames, were seen to 
stand before my eyes while slumbering, con- 
spicuous by a glare of light, where the full 
moon darted her beams through the inserted 
windows. Then they thus [seemed to] ad- 
dress me, and dispel my cares with these 
words: What Apollo would announce to 
you, were you wafted to Ortygia, he here 
reveals, and lo ! unasked, he sends us to your 
dwelling. We, after Troy was consumed, 
followed thee and thy arms; under thy con- 
duct we have crossed the swelling sea in 
ships: we too will exalt thy future race to 
heaven, and give imperial power to thy city. 
Do thou prepare walls mighty for mighty 
inhabitants, and shrink not from the long 
labors of thy voyage. You must change your 
place of residence: these are not the shores 



84 virgil's ^eneid. book hi [162-184 

that Delian Apollo advises for you: nor was 
it in Crete he commanded you to settle. 
There is a place, (the Greeks call it Hes- 
peria by name,) an ancient country, power- 
ful in arms and fertility of soil: the 
CEnotrians peopled it once; now there is a 
report, that their descendants have called 
the nation Italy, from the founder's name. 
These are our proper settlements : hence Dar- 
danus sprang, and father Iasius, from which 
prince our race is derived. Haste, arise, and 
with joy report to thy aged sire these inti- 
mations of unquestionable credibility; search 
out Coritus and the Ausonian lands; Jupi- 
ter forbids thee the Cretan territories. 

Astonished by this vision and declaration 
of the gods (nor was that a sound sleep, 
but methought I clearly discerned their as- 
pect before me, their fillet-bound locks, and 
their forms full in my view; then a cold 
sweat flowed over my whole body) ; I snatch 
my frame from the couch, and lift up my 
hand supine to heaven with my voice, and 
pour hallowed offerings on the fires. Having 
finished the sacrifice, with joy I certify An- 
chises, and disclose the fact in order. He 
recognized the double stock, and the double 
founders [of the Trojan race], and that he 
had been deceived by a modern mistake re- 
specting ancient countries; then he thus 
bespeaks me: My son, practiced in woe by 
the fates of Troy, Cassandra alone predicted 



185-204] virgil's ^eneid. book hi 85 

to me that such was to be our fortune. Now 
I recollect that she foretold this should be 
the destiny of our race, and that she often 
spoke of Hesperia, often of the realms of 
Italy. But who could believe that the Tro- 
jans were to come to the Hesperian shore? 
or whom then did the prophetic Cassandra 
influence? Let us resign ourselves to Phoe- 
bus, and, since we are better advised, let us 
follow. He said; and, exulting, we all obey 
his orders. This realm we likewise quit, 
and, leaving a few behind, unfurl our sails, 
and bound over the spacious sea in our 
hollow barks. 

When the ships held possession of the 
deep, and no land is any longer in view, sky 
all around, and ocean all around; then an 
azure rain-cloud stood over my head, bring- 
ing on night and wintry storm; the waves 
grew rough in the gloom; the winds over- 
turn the sea, and mighty surges rise : we are 
tossed to and fro on the face of the boiling 
deep: clouds enwrapped the day, and humid 
night snatched the heavens [from our 
view] ; from the bursting clouds flashes of 
lightning redouble. We are driven from our 
course, and wander in unknown waves, Pal- 
inurus himself owns he is unable to dis- 
tinguish day and night by the sky, and that 
he has forgotten his course in the mid sea. 
Thus for three days, that could hardly be 
distinguished by reason of the dark clouds, 



86 virgil's ^neid. book hi [205-227 

as many starless nights, we wander up and 
down the ocean. At length, on the fourth 
day, land was first seen to rise, to disclose 
the mountains from afar, and roll up smoke : 
the sails are lowered, we ply hard the oars; 
instantly the seamen, with exerted vigor, 
toss up the foam, and sweep the azure deep. 
The shores of the Strophades first receive 
me rescued from the waves. The Stroph- 
ades, so called by a Greek name, are islands 
situated in the great Ionian Sea ; which dire- 
ful Celaeno and the other Harpies inhabit, 
from what time Phineus' palace was closed 
against them, and they were frighted from 
his table, which they formerly haunted. No 
monster more fell than they, no plague and 
scourge of the gods more cruel, ever issued 
from the Stygian waves. They are fowls 
with virgin faces, most loathsome in their 
bodily discharge, hands hooked, and looks 
ever pale with famine. Hither conveyed, as 
soon as we entered the port, lo! we observe 
joyous herds of cattle roving up and down 
the plains, and flocks of goats along the 
meadows without a keeper. We rush upon 
them with our swords, and invoke the gods 
and Jove himself to share the booty. Then 
along the winding shore we raise the couches, 
and feast on the rich repast. But suddenly, 
with direful swoop, the Harpies are upon us 
from the mountains, shake their wings with 
loud din, prey upon our banquet, and defile 



228-250] virgil's .exeid. book hi 87 

everything with their touch : at the same 
time, together with a rank smell, hideous 
screams arise. Again we spread our tables 
in a long recess, under a shelving rock, en- 
closed around with trees and gloomy shade; 
and once more we plant fire on the altar. 
Again the noisy crowd, from a different 
quarter of the sky, and obscure retreats, 
flutter around the prey with hooked claws, 
taint our viands with their mouths. Then I 
enjoin my companions to take arms, and 
wage war with the horrid race. They do 
no otherwise than bidden, dispose their 
swords secretly among the grass, and conceal 
their shields out of sight. Therefore, as soon 
as stooping down they raised their screaming 
voices along the bending shores, Misenus 
with his hollow trumpet of brass gives the 
signal from a lofty place of observation : my 
friends set upon them, and engage in a new 
kind of fight, to employ the sword in de- 
stroying obscene sea-fowls. But they neither 
suffer any violence on their plumes, nor 
wounds in the body ; and, mounting up in 
the air with rapid flight, leave behind them 
their half-eaten prey, and the ugly prints of 
their feet. Celaeno alone alighted on a high 
rock, the prophetess of ill, and from her 
breast burst forth these words : TVar too, ye 
sons of Laomedon, is it your purpose to 
make war for our oxen which you have slain, 
for the havoc you have made upon our bul- 



88 virgil's ^eneid. BOOK III [251-270 

locks, and to banish the innocent Harpies 
from their hereditary kingdom ? Lend them 
an ear, and in your minds fix these my 
words: what the almighty Sire revealed to 
Phoebus, Phoebus Apollo to me, I the chief 
of the furies disclose to you. To Italy you 
steer your course, and Italy you shall reach 
after repeated invocations to the winds, and 
you shall be permitted to enter the port: 
but you shall not surround the given city 
with walls, till dire famine and disaster, 
for shedding our blood, compel you first to 
gnaw around and eat up your tables with 
your teeth. 

She said, and on her wings upborne flew 
into the wood. As for my companions, their 
blood, chilled with sudden fear, stagnated; 
their minds sunk : and now they are no 
longer for arms, but urge me to solicit peace 
by vows and prayers, whether they be god- 
desses, or cursed and inauspicious birds. My 
father Anchises, with hands spread forth 
from the shore, invokes the great gods, and 
enjoins due honors to be paid them: Ye 
gods, ward off these threatenings ; ye gods, 
avert so great a calamity; and propitious 
save your pious votaries. Then he orders 
to tear the ropes from the shore, loose and 
disengage the cables. The south winds 
stretch our sails: we fly over the foaming 
waves, where the wind and pilots urged our 
course. Now amidst the waves appear woody 



271-291] virgil/s ^NEID. BOOK III 89 

Zacynthes, Dulichium, Same, and Neritos, 
with its steep rocks. We shun the cliffs of 
Ithaca, Laertes' realms, and curse the land 
that bred the cruel Ulysses. Soon after this 
the cloudy tops of Mount Leucate, and [the 
temple of] Apollo, the dread of seamen, 
open to our view. Hither we steer our course 
oppressed with toil, and approach the little 
city. The anchor is thrown out from the 
prow: the ships are ranged on the shore. 
Thus at length possessed of wished-for-land, 
we both perform a lustrous sacrifice to Jupi- 
ter, and kindle the altars in order to per- 
form our vows, and signalize the promon- 
tory of Actium by celebrating the Trojan 
games. Our crew, having their naked limbs 
besmeared with slippery oil, exercise the 
wrestling matches of their country: it de- 
lights us to have escaped so many Grecian 
cities and pursued our voyage through the 
midst of our enemies. 

Meanwhile the sun finishes the revolution 
of the great year, and frosty winter exasper- 
ates the waves with the north winds. On 
the front door-posts [of the temple] I set 
up a buckler of hollow brass, which mighty 
Abas wore, and notify the action by this 
verse: "These arms iEneas [won] from the 
victorious Greeks." Then I ordered [our 
crew] to leave the port, and take their seats 
on the benches. They with emulous ardor 
lash the sea, and sweep the waves. In an 



90 virgil's ,eneid. book hi [292-3i3 

instant we lose sight of the airy towers of 
the Phaeacians, cruise along the coast of 
Epirus, and enter the Chaonian port, and 
ascend the lofty city of Buthrotus. Here 
a report of facts scarce credible invades our 
ears, that Helenus, Priam's son, was reign- 
ing over Grecian cities, possessed of the 
spouse and scepter of Pyrrhus, the grand- 
child of iEacus, and that Andromache had 
again fallen to a lord of her own country. 
I was amazed, and my bosom glowed with 
strange desire to greet the hero, and learn 
so signal revolutions of fortune. I set for- 
ward from the port, leaving the fleet and 
shore. Andromache, as it chanced, was then 
offering to [Hector's] ashes her anniversary 
feast and mournful oblations before the city 
in a grove, near the stream of the fictitious 
Simois, and invoked the manes at Hector's 
tomb; an empty tomb which she had con- 
secrated of green turf and two altars, in- 
centives to her grief. As soon as she saw 
me coming up, and to her amazement beheld 
the Trojan arms around me, terrified with 
a prodigy so great, she stiffened at the very 
sight; vital warmth forsook her limbs: she 
sinks down, and at length, after a long in- 
terval, with faltering accent speaks: God- 
dess-born, do you present yourselves to me 
a real form, a real messenger? Do you live? 
or, if from you the benignant light has fled, 
where is Hector? She said, and shed a flood 



314-334] virgil's ^eneid. book hi 91 

of tears, filling all the place with cries. To 
her, in this transport, I with difficulty make 
even a brief reply, and in great perturbation 
open my mouth in these few broken words: 
I am alive indeed, and spin out life through 
all extremes. Doubt not; for all you see is 
real. Ah! what accidents of life have over- 
taken you, since you were thrown down from 
[the possession of] your illustrious lord? or 
what fortune, some way suited to your merit, 
hath visited you once more? Is then Hec- 
tor's Andromache bound in wedlock to Pyr- 
rhus? Downward she cast her eyes, and thus 
in humble accents [spoke] : happy, sin- 
gularly happy, the fate of Priam's virgin- 
daughter, who, compelled to die at the 
enemy's tomb under the lofty walls of Troy, 
suffered not in having any lots east for 
her, nor as a captive ever touched the bed 
of a victor lord ! We, after the burning of 
our country, being transported over various 
seas, have in thraldom borne with a mother's 
throes the insolence of Achilles' heir, and a 
haughty, imperious youth; who afterwards, 
attaching himself to Hermione, the grand- 
daughter of Leda, and a Lacedaemonian 
match, delivered me over a slave into the 
possession of a slave, Helenus. But Orestes, 
inflamed by the violence of love to his be- 
trothed snatched from him, and hurried on 
by the Furies of his crimes, surprises him 
in an unguarded hour, and assassinates him 



92 virgil's ^eneid. book iii [335-355 

at his paternal altar. By the death of Neop- 
tolemus, a part of his kingdom fell to Hel- 
enus; who dominated the plains Chaonian, 
and the whole country Chaonia, from the 
Trojan Chaon, and built on the mountains 
[another] Pergamus and this Trojan fort. 
But what winds, what fates, have guided 
your course? or what god hath landed you 
on our coasts without your knowledge ? What 
is become of the boy Ascanius? Lives he 
still, and breathes the vital air? whom to 

your care, when Troy was Has the boy 

any concern for the loss of his mother? Is 
he incited, by both his father iEneas and 
his uncle Hector, to ancient valor and manly 
courage ? 

Thus bathed in tears she spoke, and 
heaved long unavailing sobs; when the hero 
Helenus, Priam's son, advances from the 
city with a numerous retinue, knows his 
friends, with joy conducts them to his pal- 
ace, and sheds tears in abundance between 
each word. I set forward, and survey the 
little Troy, the castle of Pergamus resem- 
bling the great original, and a scanty rivu- 
let bearing the name of Xanthus; and I 
embrace the threshold of a Scsean gate. The 
Trojans too, at the same time, enjoy the 
friendly city. The king entertained them 
in his spacious galleries. In the midst of 
the court they quaffed brimmers of wine, 



356-377] virgil's ^ineid. book hi 93 

while the banquet was served in gold, and 
each stood with a goblet in his hand. 

And now one day, and a second, passed 
on, when the gales invite our sails, and the 
canvas bellies by the swelling south wind. 
In these words I accost the prophet, [Hel- 
enus,] and question him thus : Son of Troy, 
interpreter of the gods, who knowest the 
divine will of Phoebus, the tripods, the 
laurels of the Clarian god; who knowest the 
stars, the ominous sounds of birds, and the 
prognostics of the swift wing, come, declare 
(for [hitherto the omens of] religion have 
pronounced my whole voyage to be prosper- 
ous, and all the gods, by their divine will, 
have directed me to go in pursuit of Italy, 
and attempt a settlement in lands remote: 
the Harpy Celoeno alone predicts a prodigy 
strange and horrible to relate, and denounces 
direful vengeance and foul famine) what 
are the principal dangers I am to shun? or 
by the pursuit of what means may I sur- 
mount toils so great? Upon this Helenus 
first solicits the peace of the gods by sacri- 
ficing bullocks in due form, then unbinds 
the fillets of his consecrated head, and him- 
self leads me by the hand to thy temple, 
Phoebus, anxious with great awe of the 
god; then the priest, from his lips divine, 
delivers these predictions : Goddess-born, 
(for that you steer through the deep under 
some higher auspices, is unquestionably evi- 



94 virgil's ^eneid. book hi [378-396 

dent; so the sovereign of the gods dispenses 
his decree; thus he fixes the series of revolv- 
ing events; such a scheme of things is com- 
ing to its accomplishment,) that you may 
with greater safety cross the seas to which 
you are a stranger, and settle in the Auso- 
nian port, I will unfold to you a few par- 
ticulars of many; for the Destinies prevent 
you from knowing the rest, and Saturnian 
Juno forbids Helenus to reveal it. First of 
all, a long intricate voyage, with a length of 
lands, divides [you from] Italy, which you 
unwittingly deem already near, and whose 
ports you are preparing to enter, as if just 
at hand. You must both ply the bending 
oar in the Trinacrian wave, and visit with 
your fleet the plains of the Ausonian Sea, 
the infernal lakes, and the isle of iEa3an 
Circe, before you can build a city in a 
quiet, peaceful land. I will declare the signs 
to you: do you keep them treasured up in 
your mind. When, thoughtfully musing by 
the streams of the secret river, you shall 
find a large sow that has brought forth a 
litter of thirty young, reclining on the 
ground, under the holms that shade the 
banks, white [the dam], the offspring white 
around her dugs: that shall be the station 
of the city; there is the period fixed to thy 
labors. Nor be disturbed at the future event 
of eating your tables : the Pates will find out 
an expedient, and Apollo invoked will be- 



397-417] virgil's .eneid. book hi 95 

friend you. But shun those coasts, and 
those nearest limits of the Italian shore, 
which arc washed by the tide of our sea: 
all those cities are inhabited by the mis- 
chievous Greeks. Here the Narycian Lo- 
criars have raised their walls, and Cretan 
Idomeneus with his troops has possessed the 
plains of Salentum: here stands that little 
city Petilia, defended by the walls of Philoc- 
tetes the Melibcean chief. [Kemember] also 
(when your fleet, having crossed the seas, 
shall come to a station, and you shall pay 
your vows at the altar raised on the shore) 
to cover your head, muffling yourself in a 
purple veil, lest the face of an enemy, amidst 
the sacred fires in honor of the gods, appear, 
and disturb the omens. This custom, in 
sacrifice, let your friends, this yourself ob- 
serve; to this religious institution let your 
pious descendants adhere. But when, after 
setting out, the wind shall waft you to the 
Sicilian coast, and the straits of narrow Pe- 
lorus shall open wider to the eye, veer to 
the land on the left, and to the sea on the 
left, by a long circuit ; fly the right both sea 
and shore. These lands, they say, once with 
violence and vast desolation convulsed, 
(such revolutions a long course of time is 
able to produce,) slipped asunder; when in 
continuity both lands were one, the sea 
rushed impetuously between, and by its 
waves tore the Italian side from that of 



96 virgil's ^neid. book hi [418-440 

Sicily; and with a narrow frith runs be- 
tween the fields and cities separated by the 
shores. Scylla guards the right side, im- 
placable Charybdis the left, and thrice with 
the deepest eddies of its gulf swallows up 
the vast billows, headlong in, and again 
spouts them out by turns high into the air, 
and lashes the stars with the waves. But 
Scylla a cave confines within its dark re- 
cesses, reaching forth her jaws, and sucking 
in vessels upon the rocks. First she pre- 
sents a human form, a lovely virgin down to 
the middle; her lower parts are those of a 
hideous sea-monster, with the tails of dol- 
phins joined to the wombs of wolves. It is 
better with delay to coast round the ex- 
tremities of Sicilian Pachynus, and steer a 
long winding course, than once to behold the 
misshapen Scylla under her capacious den, 
and those rocks that roar with her sea-green 
dogs. Further, if Helenus has any skill, if 
any credit is due to him as a prophet, if 
Apollo stores his mind with truth, I will 
give you this one previous admonition, this 
one, goddess-born, above all the rest, and 
I will inculcate it upon you again and again : 
Be sure you, in the first place, with suppli- 
cations worship great Juno's divinity; to 
Juno cheerfully address your vows, and 
overcome the powerful queen with humble 
offerings: thus, at length, leaving Trinacria, 
you shall be dismissed victorious to the ter- 



441-462] virgil's .eneid. book hi 97 

ritories of Italy. When, wafted thither, you 
reach the city Cumse, the hallowed lakes, and 
Avernus resounding through the woods, you 
will see the raving prophetess, who, beneath 
a deep rock, reveals the fates, and commits 
to the leaves of trees her characters and 
words. Whatever verses the virgin has in- 
scribed on the leaves, she ranges in har- 
monious order, and leaves in the cave en- 
closed by themselves : uncovered they re- 
main in their position, nor recede from their 
order. But when, upon turning the hinge, 
a small breath of wind has blown upon 
them, and the door [by opening] has dis- 
composed the tender leaves, she never after- 
wards cares to catch the verses as they are 
fluttering in the hollow cave, nor to recover 
their situation, or join them together. Men 
depart without a response, and detest the 
Sibyl's grot. Let not the loss of some time 
there seem of such consequence to you, 
(though your friends chide, and your voyage 
strongly invite your sails into the deep, and 
you may have an opportunity to fill the 
bellying canvas with a prosperous gale,) as 
to hinder you from visiting the prophetess, 
and earnestly entreating her to deliver the 
oracles herself, and vouchsafe to open her 
lips in vocal accent. She will declare to 
you the Italian nations, and your future 
wars, and by what means you may shun or 
sustain each hardship; and, with reverence 



98 virgil's ^neid. book hi [463-481 

addressed, will give you a successful voyage. 
These are all the instructions I am at lib- 
erty to give you. Go then, and by your 
achievements raise mighty Troy to heaven. 
Which words when the prophet had thus 
with friendly voice pronounced, he next 
orders presents to be carried to the ships, 
heavy with gold and ivory; and within the 
sides of my vessel stows a large quantity of 
silver plate, and caldrons of Dodonean brass, 
a mail thick set with rings, and wrought in 
gold of triple tissue, together with the cone 
and waving crest of a shining helmet, arms 
which belonged to Neoptolemus: my father 
too has proper gifts conferred on him. He 
gives us horses besides, and gives us guides. 
He supplies us with rowers, and at the same 
time furnishes our crew with arms. Mean- 
while Anchises gave orders to equip our fleet 
with sails, that we might not be late for 
the favoring gale. Whom the interpreter of 
Apollo accosts with much respect : Anchises, 
honored with the illustrious bed of Venus, 
thou care of the gods, twice snatched from 
the ruins of Troy, lo! there the coast of 
Ausonia lies before you; thither speed your 
way with full sail: and yet you must needs 
steer your course beyond. That part of Au- 
sonia which Apollo opens lies remote. Go, 
says he, happy in the pious duty of your 
son: why do I further insist, and by my 
discourse retard the rising gales? In like 



482-5041 VIRGIL'S ^NEID. BOOK III 99 

manner Andromache, grieved at our final 
departure, brings forth for Ascanius vest- 
ments wrought in figures of gold, and a 
Phrygian cloak; nor falls short of his dig- 
nity: she loads him also with presents of 
her labors in the loom, and thus addresses 
him: Take these too, my child, which may 
be memorials to you of my handiwork, and 
testify the permanent affection of Andro- 
mache, the spouse of Hector : accept the last 
presents of thy friends. image, which is 
all that I have now left of my Astyanax! 
just such eyes, such hands, such looks he 
showed ; and now of equal age with you, 
would have been blooming into youth. I, 
with tears in my eyes, thus addressed them 
at parting: Live in felicity, ye whose for- 
tune is now accomplished : we are summoned 
from fate to fate. To you tranquillity is se- 
cured; no expanse of sea have you to plow, 
or to pursue the ever-retreating lands of 
Ausonia. You behold the image of Xan- 
thus, and the Troy which your own hands 
have built : Heaven grant it be with happier 
auspices, and be less obnoxious to the 
Greeks. If ever I shall enter the Tiber, and 
the lands that border on the Tiber, and view 
the walls allotted to my race, we will here- 
after make of our kindred cities an allied 
people, [yours] in Epirus, [and mine] in 
Italy, who have both the same founder, Dar- 
danus, and the same, fortune; [we will, I 



100 VIRGIL'S ^ENEID. BOOK III [505-526 

say, make] of both one Troy, in good-will. 
Be this the future care of our posterity. 

We pursue our voyage near the adjacent 
Ceraunian mountains; whence lies our way, 
and the shortest course by sea to Italy. 
Meanwhile the sun goes down, and the 
dusky mountains are wrapped up in shade. 
On the bosom of the wished-for earth we 
throw ourselves down by the waves, having 
distributed the oars by lot, and all along 
the dry beach we refresh our frames [with 
food] ; sleep diffuses its dews over our weary 
limbs. Night, driven by the hours, had not 
yet reached her mid-way course, when Pal- 
inurus springs alert from his bed, examines 
every wind, and lends his ears to catch the 
breeze. He marks every star gliding in the 
silent sky, Arcturus, the rainy Hyades, and 
the two northern Bears, and throws his eyes 
round Orion armed with gold. After having 
seen all appearances of settled weather in 
the serene sky, he gives the loud signal from 
the stern: we decamp, attempt our voyage, 
and expand the wings of our sails. And now 
the stars being chased away, blushing Aurora 
appeared, when far off we espy the hills 
obscure, and lowly Italy. Italy! Achates 
first called aloud; Italy the crew with joy- 
ous acclamations hail. Then father Anchises 
decked a capacious bowl with a garland, and 
filled it up with wine; and invoked the 
gods, standing on the lofty stern : Ye gods 



527-548] virgil's ^neid. book hi 101 

who rule sea, and land, and storms, grant 
ns a prosperous voyage by the wind, and 
breathe propitious. The wished-for gales 
begin to swell; and now the port opens 
nearer to onr view, and on a height appears 
the temple of Minerva. Our crew furl the 
sails, and turn about their prows to the 
shore. Where the wave breaks from the east, 
the port bends into an arch; the jutting 
cliffs foam with the briny spray; [the port] 
itself lies hidden: two turret-like rocks 
stretch out their arms in a double wall, and 
the temple recedes from the shore. Here, 
on the grassy meadow, I saw, as our first 
omen, four snow-white steeds grazing the 
plain at large. And father Anchises [calls 
out], War, hospitable land, thou betoken- 
est; for war steeds are harnessed; war these 
cattle threaten: but yet, the same quadru- 
peds having long been used to submit to 
the chariot, and in the yoke to bear the 
peaceful reins, there is hope, also, of peace, 
he says. Then we address our prayers to 
the sacred majesty of Pallas, with clashing 
arms arrayed, who first received us elated 
with joy; and before her altars we veiled 
our heads with a Phrygian veil; and ac- 
cording to the instructions of Helenus, on 
which he laid the greatest stress, in due 
form we offer up to Argive Juno the honors 
enjoined. Without delay, as soon as we had 
regularly fulfilled our vows, we turn about 



102 virgil's ^eneid. book in [549-571 

the extremities of our sail-yards, and quit 
the abodes and suspected territories of the 
sons of Greece. Next is seen the bay of 
Tarentum, sacred to Hercules, if report be 
true; and the Lacinian goddess rears herself 
opposite: the towers of Caulon [also ap- 
pear], and Scylaceum infamous for ship- 
wrecks. Then, far from the waves, is seen 
Trinacrian iEtna; and from a distance we 
hear the loud growling of the ocean, the 
beaten rocks, and the murmurs of breakers 
on the coast: the deep leaps up, and sands 
are mingled with the tide. And, [says] 
father Anchises, Doubtless this is the famed 
Charybdis; these shelves, these hideous rocks 
Helenus foretold. Eescue us, my friends, 
and with equal ardor rise on your oars. 
They do no otherwise than bidden ; and first 
Palinurus whirled about the creaking prow 
to the left waters. The whole crew, with 
oars and sails, bore to the left. We mount 
up to heaven on the arched gulf, and down 
again we settle to the shades below, the wave 
having retired* Thrice the rocks bellowed 
amid their hollow caverns; thrice we saw 
the foam dashed up, and the stars drenched 
with its dewy moisture. 

Meanwhile the wind with the sun forsook 
us spent with toil; and not knowing our 
course, we near the coasts of the Cyclops. 
The port itself is ample, and undisturbed 
by the access of the winds; but, near it, 



572-592] VIRGIL'S ^NEID. BOOK III 103 

iEtna thunders with horrible ruins, and 
sometimes sends forth to the skies a black 
cloud, ascending in a pitchy whirlwind of 
smoke and glowing embers; throws up balls 
of flame, and kisses the stars: sometimes, 
belching, hurls forth rocks and the shattered 
bowels of the mountain, and with a rum- 
bling noise wreaths aloft the molten rocks, 
and boils up from its lowest bottom. It is 
said that the body of Ehceladus, half con- 
sumed with lightning, is pressed down by 
this pile, and that cumbrous iEtna, laid 
above him, spouts forth flames from its burst 
furnaces; and that, as often as he shifts 
his weary side, all Trinacria, with a groan, 
inly trembles, and overshades the heavens 
with smoke. Lying that night under the 
covert of the woods, we suffer from those 
hideous prodigies; nor see what cause pro- 
duced the sound. For neither was there 
the light of the stars, nor was the sky en- 
lightened by the starry firmament; but 
gloom was over the dusky sky, and a night 
of extreme darkness muffled up the moon in 
clouds. 

And now the next day with the first dawn 
was rising, and Aurora had dissipated the 
humid shades from the sky; when suddenly 
a strange figure of a man unknown to us, 
emaciated to the last degree, and in a la- 
mentable plight, stalks from the woods, and, 
with the air of a suppliant, stretches forth 



104 virgil's .eneid. book hi [593-614 

his hands to the shore. We look back: he 
was in horrid filth, his beard overgrown, his 
garment tagged with thorns; but, in all be- 
sides, he was a Greek, and had formerly 
been sent to Troy accompanying the arms 
of his country. As soon as he descried our 
Trojan dress and arms, struck with terror 
at the sight, he paused awhile, and stopped 
his progress: a moment after, rushed head- 
long to the shore with tears and prayers. I 
conjure you, [says he,] by the stars, by the 
powers above, by this celestial light of life, 
ye Trojans, snatch me hence; convey me to 
any climes whatever, I shall be satisfied. 
It is true, I am one who belonged to the 
Grecian fleet, and, I confess, I bore arms 
against the walls of Troy: for which, if the 
demerit of my crime be so heinous, scatter 
my limbs on the waves, and bury them in 
the vast ocean. If I die, I shall have the 
satisfaction of dying by the hands of men. 
He said, and clasping our knees, and wal- 
lowing [on the ground], clung to our knees. 
We urge him to tell who he is, of what 
family born; and next to declare what for- 
tune pursues him. My father Anchises 
frankly gives the youth his right hand, and 
reassures his mind by that kind pledge. At 
length, fear removed, he thus begins: I am 
a native of Ithaca; a companion of the un- 
fortunate Ulysses, Achnemenides my name. 
I went to Troy, my father Adamastus being 



615-636] virgil's ^neid. book in 105 

poor, but would that my state of life had 
remained as it was: Here, in the huge den 
of the Cyclop, my unmindful companions 
deserted me, while in consternation they fled 
from his cruel abodes. It is an abode of 
gore and bloody banquets, gloomy within, 
and vast; [the Cyclop] himself, of towering 
height, beats the stars on high, (ye gods, 
avert such a pest from the earth!) fiercely 
scowling in his aspect, and inaccessible to 
every mortal: he feeds on the entrails and 
purple blood of hapless wretches. I myself 
beheld, when, having grasped in his rapa- 
cious hand two of our number, as he lay 
stretched on his back in the middle of the 
cave, he dashed them against the stones, 
and the bespattered pavement floated with 
their blood : I beheld, when he ground their 
members distilling black gore, and their 
throbbing limbs quivered under his teeth. 
Not with impunity, it is true; such bar- 
barity Ulysses suffered not [to pass unre- 
venged], nor was the prince of Ithaca for- 
getful of himself in that critical hour. For 
as soon as, glutted with his banquet, and 
buried in wine, he reposed his reclined neck 
to rest, and lay at his enormous length along 
the cave, disgorging blood in his sleep, and 
gobbets intermixed with gory wine ; we, hav- 
ing implored the great gods, and distributed 
our several parts by lot, pour in upon him 
on all hands at once, and with our pointed 



106 virgil's ^eneid. book hi [637-659 

javelins bore out the huge single eye which 
was sunk under his lowering front, like a 
Grecian buckler, or the orb of Phoebe; and 
at length we joyfully avenge the manes of 
our friends. But fly, ah wretches! fly, and 
tear the cables from the shore. For such 
and so vast Polyphemus [is, who] pens in 
his hollow cave the fleecy flocks, and drains 
their dugs, a hundred other direful Cyclops 
commonly haunt these winding shores, and 
roam on the lofty mountains. The horns 
of the moon are now filling up with light 
for the third time, while in these woods, 
among the desert dens and holds of wild 
beasts, I linger out my life, and descry from 
the rock the vast Cyclops, and quake at the 
sound of their feet and voice. The berries 
and the stony cornels, which the branches 
supply, form my wretched sustenance, and 
the herbs feed me with their plucked up 
roots. Casting my eyes around on every 
object, this fleet I espied first steering to 
the shore; to it I was resolved to give up 
myself, whatever it had been; it suffices me 
that I have escaped from that horrid crew. 
Do you rather destroy this life by any sort 
of death. Scarcely had he spoken this, when 
on the summit of the mountain we observed 
the shepherd Polyphemus himself, stalking 
with his enormous bulk among his flocks, 
and seeking the shore, his usual haunt; a 
horrible monster, misshapen, vast, of sight 



660-680] virgil's ^neid. book hi 107 

deprived. The trunk of a pine guides his 
hand, and makes firm his steps: his fleecy 
sheep accompany him; this his sole delight, 
and the solace of his distresses: [from his 
neck his whistle hangs.] After he touched 
the deep floods, and arrived at the sea, he 
therewith washes away the trickling gore 
from his quenched orb, gnashing his teeth 
with a groan : and now he stalks through the 
midst of the sea, while the waves have not 
yet wetted his gigantic sides. We, in con- 
sternation, hasten our flight far from that 
shore, having received our suppliant, who 
thus merited our favor; we silently cut the 
cable, and bending forward, sweep the sea 
with struggling oars. He perceived, and at 
the sound turned his steps. But when no 
opportunity is afforded him to reach us with 
his eager grasp, and he is unable in pur- 
suing us to equal the Ionian waves, he raises 
a prodigious yell, wherewith the sea and 
every wave deeply trembled, and Italy, to 
its inmost bounds, was affrighted, and JEtna 
bellowed through its winding caverns. 
Meanwhile the race of the Cyclops, roused 
from the woods and lofty mountains, rush 
to the port, and crowd the shore. We per- 
ceive the iEtnean brothers, standing side by 
side in vain, with lowering eye, bearing 
their heads aloft to heaven; a horrid as- 
sembly: as when aerial oaks, or cone-bearing 
cypresses, Jove's lofty wood, or Diana's 



108 virgil's ,eneid. book hi [681-702 

grove, together rear their towering tops. 
Sharp fear impels our crew to tack about 
to any quarter whatever, and spread their 
sails to any favorable wind. On the other 
hand, the commands of Helenus warn them 
not to continue their course between Scylla 
and Charybdis, a path which borders on 
death on either hand: our resolution [there- 
fore] is, to sail backward. 

And lo! the north-wind sent from the 
narrow seat of Pelorus comes to our aid. 
I am wafted beyond the mouth of Pantagia, 
formed of natural rock, the bay of Megara, 
and low-lying Tapsus. These Achasmenides, 
the associate of accursed Ulysses, pointed 
out to us, as backward he cruised along the 
scenes of his wanderings. 

Before the Sicilian bay outstretched lies 
an island opposite to rough Plemmyrium; 
the ancients called its name Ortygia. It is 
said, that Alpheus, a river of Elis, hath 
hither worked a secret channel under the 
sea; which, by thy mouth, Arethusa, is 
now blended with the Sicilian waves. We 
venerate the great divinities of the place, as 
commanded; and thence I pass the too lux- 
uriant soil of the overflowing Helorus. 
Hence we skim along the high cliffs and 
prominent rocks of Pachynus; and at a dis- 
tance appears Camarina, by fate forbidden 
to be ever removed; the Geloian plains and 
huge Gela, called by the name of the river. 



703-718] vjrgil's ^neid. book hi 109 

Next lofty Acragas shows from far his 
stately walls, once the breeder of generous 
steeds. And thee, Selinus, fruitful in palms, 
I leave, by means of the given winds ; and I 
trace my way through the shadows of Lily- 
bum, dangerous through its hidden rocks. 
Hence the port and joyless coast of Dre- 
panum receive me. Here, alas ! after being 
tossed by so many storms at sea, I lose my 
sire Anchises, my solace in every care and 
suffering. Here, thou, best of fathers, whom 
in vain, alas ! I saved from so many dan- 
gers, forsakest me spent with toils. Neither 
prophetic Helenus, when he gave me many 
fearful warnings, nor dire Celseno, predicted 
to me this mournful stroke. This was my 
finishing disaster, this the termination of 
my long tedious voyage. Parting hence, a 
god directed me to your coasts. 

Thus father iEneas, while all sat atten- 
tive, alone recounted the destiny allotted 
to him by the gods, and gave a history of 
his voyage. He ceased at length, and, hav- 
ing here finished his relation, rested. 



110 VIRGIL'S jENEID. BOOK IV [1-16 



BOOK IV 

In the Fourth Book, Queen Dido becomes deeply en- 
amored of iEneas, to whom she proffers her hand and 
her crown ; but, on finding him determined, in obedi- 
ence to the command of the gods, to leave Carthage, 
rage and despair took possession of the unhappy 
queen. At last, the sudden departure of iEneas led 
to the fatal catastrophe of her death, by her own 
hand, on the funeral pile which she had erected. 

But the queen, long since pierced with 
painful care, feeds the wound in her veins, 
and is consumed by unseen flames. The 
many virtues of the hero, the many honors 
of his race, recur to her thoughts : his looks 
and words dwell fixed in her soul: nor does 
care allow calm rest to her limbs. Beturn- 
ing Aurora now illuminated the earth with 
the lamp of Phoebus, and had chased away 
the dewy shades from the sky, when she, 
half-frenzied, thus addresses her sympathiz- 
ing sister: Sister Anna, what dreams terrify 
and distract my mind ! What think you 
of this wondrous guest who has come to our 
abodes? In mien how graceful he appears! 
in manly fortitude and warlike deeds how 
great! I am fully persuaded (nor is my 
belief groundless) that he is the offspring 
of the gods. Fear argues a degenerate mind. 
Ah ! by what fatal disasters has he been 
tossed ! what toils of war he sang, endured 
to the last! Had I not been fixed and stead- 
fast in my resolution, never to join myself 



17-38] virgil's ^eneid. book iv 111 

to any in the bonds of wedlock, since my 
first love by death mocked and disappointed 
me; had I not been thoroughly tired of the 
marriage-bed and nuptial torch, to this one 
frailty I might perhaps give way. Anna, 
(for I will own it,) since the decease of 
my unhappy spouse Sichseus, and since the 
household gods were stained with his blood 
shed by a brother, this [stranger] alone has 
warped my inclinations, and interested my 
wavering mind : I recognize the sjnuptoms 
of my former flame. But sooner may earth 
from her lowest depths yawn for me, or the 
almighty Sire hurl me by his thunder to the 
shades, the pale shades of Erebus and deep 
night, than I violated thee, modesty, or 
break thy laws. He who first linked me to 
himself hath borne away my affection; may 
he possess it still, and retain it in his grave. 
This said, she filled her bosom with trick- 
ling tears. Anna replies: dearer to your 
sister than the light, will you thus in 
mournful solitude waste your bloom of 
youth, nor know the dear delights of chil- 
dren, and rewards of love? Think you that 
ashes and the buried dead care for that? 
What though no lovers moved you before, 
when your sorrows were green, either in 
Libya, or before in Tyre? what though 
Iarbas was slighted, and other princes whom 
Afric, fertile in triumphs, maintains? Will 
you also resist a flame which you approve? 



112 virgil's ^eneid. book iv [39-59 

Will you not reflect in whose country you 
now reside? Here the Getulian cities, a 
race invincible in war, unrestrained Nu- 
midians, and inhospitable quicksands, en- 
close you round; there, a region by thirst 
turned into a desert, and the wide-ranging 
Barcaeans. Why should I mention the 
kindling wars from Tyre, and the menaces 
of your brother? It was surely, I think, 
under the auspices of the gods, and by the 
favor of Juno, that the Trojan ships steered 
their course to this our coast. sister, how 
flourishing shall you see this city, how po- 
tent your kingdom rise from such a match ! 
By what high exploits shall the Cartha- 
ginian glory be advanced, when the Trojan's 
arms join them ! Do you but supplicate the 
favor of the gods, and, having performed 
propitiating rites, indulge in hospitality, and 
devise one pretence after another for de- 
taining [your guest], while winter's fury 
rages on the sea, and Orion charged with 
rain; while his ships are shattered, and the 
sky is inclement. 

By this speech she fanned the fire of love 
kindled in Dido's breast, buoyed up her 
wavering mind with hope, and banished her 
scruples. First to the temples they repair, 
and by sacrifice the peace of heaven im- 
plore: to Ceres, the lawgiver, to Phoebus, 
and to father Bacchus, they offer ewes of the 
age of two years, according to custom ; above 



60-81] virgil's ^eneid. book iv 113 

all to Juno, whose province is the nuptial 
tie. Dido herself, in all her beauty, hold- 
ing in her right hand the cup, pours it be- 
tween the horns of a white heifer; or before 
the images of the gods in solemn pomp 
around the rich-laden altars walks, re- 
news one offering after another all the 
day long, and, gaping over the disclosed 
breasts of the victims, consults their panting 
entrails. Alas ! how ignorant the minds of 
seers ! what can prayers, what can temples, 
avail a raging lover? The gentle flame preys 
all the while upon her vitals, and the secret 
wound rankles in her breast. Unhappy Dido 
burns, and frantic roves over all the town; 
like a wounded deer, whom, off her guard, 
a shepherd pursuing with his darts has 
pierced at a distance among the Cretan 
woods, and unknowingly [in the wound] hath 
left the winged steel ; she flying bounds over 
the Dictaean woods and glades: the fatal 
shaft sticks in her side. Now she conducts 
iEneas through the midst of her fortifica- 
tions; shows him both the treasures brought 
from Tyre, and her new city: she begins to 
speak, and stops short in the middle of a 
word. When day declines, she longs to have 
the same banquets renewed; and, fond even 
to madness, begs again to hear the Trojan 
disasters, and again hangs on the speaker's 
lips. Now, when they had severally retired, 
while the fading moon in her alternate 



114 virgil's ^neid. book iv [82-103 

course withdraws her light, and the setting 
stars invite sleep, she mourns alone in the 
desert hall, presses the couch which he had 
left, and in fancy hears and sees the absent 
hero; or, captivated with the father's image, 
hugs Ascanius in her bosom, if possibly she 
may divert her unutterable love. The towers 
which were begun cease to rise; her youth 
practice not their warlike exercises, nor pre- 
pare ports and bulwarks for war; the works 
and the huge battlements on the walls, and 
the engines that mate the skies, are dis- 
continued. 

Whom when Jove's beloved wife perceived 
to be thus possessed with the blighting pas- 
sion, and that even sense of honor could not 
resist its rage, Saturnia thus artfully ad- 
dresses Venus: Distinguished praise, no 
doubt, and ample spoils, you and your boy 
carry off, high and signal renown, if one 
woman is overcome by the wiles of two 
deities. Xor am I quite ignorant, that you 
apprehend danger from our walls, and view 
the structures of lofty Carthage with a 
jealous eye. But where will all this end? 
or what do we now propose by such hot 
contention? Why do we not rather promote 
an eternal peace, and nuptial contract? You 
have your whole soul's desire; Dido burns 
with love, and has sucked the fury into her 
very bones. Let us therefore rule this people 
in common, and under equal sway : let Dido 



104-122] VIRGIL'S ;ENEID. BOOK IV 115 

be at liberty to bind herself in wedlock to 
a Trojan lord, and into thy hand deliver 
over the Tyrians by way of dowry. 

To whom Venus (for she perceived that 
she spoke with an insincere mind, with a 
design to transfer the seat of empire from 
Italy to the Libyan coasts) thus in her turn 
began: Who can be so mad as to reject 
these terms, and rather choose to engage in 
war with you, would fortune but concur with 
the scheme which you mention? But I am 
driven to an uncertainty by the Fates, [not 
knowing] whether it be the will of Jupiter 
that the Tyrians and Trojans should dwell 
in one city, or if he will approve the union 
of the two nations, and the joining of alli- 
ance. You are his consort : to you it belongs 
by entreaty to work upon his mind. Lead 
you the way; I will follow. Then imperial 
Juno thus replied: That task be mine; 
meanwhile (mark my words) I will briefly 
show by what means our present design may 
be accomplished. iEneas and most unhappy 
Dido are preparing to hunt together in the 
forest, soon as to-morrow's sun shall have 
brought forth the early dawn, and enlight- 
ened the world with his beams. While the 
[bright-hued] plumage flutters, and they 
enclose the thickets with toils, I will pour 
on them from above a blackening storm of 
rain with mingled hail, and with peals of 
thunder make heaven's whole frame to 



116 VIRGIl/s iENEID. BOOK IV [123-143 

shake. Their retinue shall fly different ways, 
and be covered with a dark night [of 
clouds]. Dido and the Trojan prince shall 
repair to the same cave: there will I be 
present, and, if I have your firm consent, 
I will join them in the lasting bonds of 
wedlock, and consecrate her to be his for- 
ever. The god of marriage shall be there. 
Venus, without any opposition, agreed to her 
proposal, and smiled at the fraud she dis- 
covered. 

Meanwhile Aurora, rising, left the ocean. 
Soon as the beams of day shot forth, the 
chosen youth issue through the gates; the 
fine nets, the toils, the broad-pointed hunt- 
ing spears, the Massylian horsemen, and a 
pack of quick-scented hounds, pour forth to- 
gether. Before the palace-gate the Cartha- 
ginian nobles await the queen lingering in 
her alcove: her steed, richly caparisoned 
with purple and gold, ready stands, and 
fiercely champs the foaming bit. At length 
she comes attended by a numerous retinue, 
attired in a Sidonian chlamys with embroid- 
ered border: she has a quiver of gold; her 
tresses are tied in a golden knot; a golden 
buckle binds up her purple robe. The Tro- 
jan youth, too, and sprightly lulus, accom- 
pany the procession. iEneas himself, dis- 
tinguished in beauty above all the rest, 
mingles with the retinue, and adds his train 
to hers: as when Apollo, leaving Lycia, his 



144-164] virgil's ^sneid. book iv 117 

winter seat, and the streams of Xanthus, 
revisits his mother's island Delos, and re- 
news the dances: the Cretans, Dryopes, and 
painted Agathyrsi, mingle their acclama- 
tions around his altars: he himself moves 
majestic on Cynthus' top, and adjusting his 
waving hair, crowns it with a soft wreath, 
and enfolds it in gold; his arrows rattle on 
his shoulders. With no less active grace 
iEneas moved: such comeliness shines forth 
in his matchless mien. Soon as they 
reached the high mountains, and pathless 
lairs, lo ! from the summit of the craggy 
cliff the wild goats dislodged skip down the 
rocks : on the other side the stags scour along 
the open plains, and gather together in 
flight their dust-covered squadrons, and for- 
sake the mountains. Now the boy Ascanius 
delights in his sprightly courser through the 
enclosed vales; and now these, now those he 
outrides, and devoutly wishes that a foam- 
ing boar would cross his way amidst the 
feeble flocks, or a tawny lion descend from 
the mountain. 

Meanwhile the air begins to be disturbed 
with loud clammerings; a deluge of rain 
with mingled hail succeeds. And here and 
there the Tyrian train, the Trojan youth, 
and Venus' grandchild of Dardanian line, 
for fear sought different shelters through the 
fields. Whole rivers from the mountains 
come pouring down. Dido and the Trojan 



118 virgil's ^eneid. book iv [165-186 

prince repair to the same cave. [Then] 
first the Earth, and Juno who presides over 
marriage, gave the signal: lightnings 
flashed, the sky was a witness to the alli- 
ance, and the nymphs were heard to shriek 
on the mountain tops. That day first proved 
the source of death, the source of woes: for 
[now] Dido is neither influenced by appear- 
ance nor character, nor is she now studious 
to carry on clandestine love : she calls it mar- 
riage: she veils her guilt under that name. 
Forthwith Fame through the populous 
city of Libya runs: Fame, than whom no 
pest is more swift, by exerting her agility 
grows more active, and acquires strength on 
her way: small at first through fear; soon 
she shoots up into the skies, and stalks along 
the ground, while she hides her head among 
the clouds. Parent Earth, enraged by the 
vengeance of the gods, produced her the 
youngest sister, it is said of Cseus, and En- 
celadus, swift to move with feet and perse- 
vering wings: a monster hideous, immense; 
who (wondrous to relate!) for as many 
plumes as are in her body, numbers so many 
wakeful eyes beneath, so many tongues, so 
many babbling mouths, pricks up so many 
listening ears. By night, through the mid 
region of the sky, and through the shades 
of earth, she flies buzzing, nor inclines her 
eyes to balmy rest. Watchful by day, she 
perches either on some high house-top, or 



187-207] VIRGIL'S .ENEID. BOOK IV 119 

on lofty turrets, and fills mighty cities with 
dismay; as obstinately bent on falsehood and 
iniquity as on reporting truth. She then, 
delighted with various rumors filled the peo- 
ple's ear, and uttered facts and fictions in- 
differently; [namely,] that JEneas, sprung 
from Trojan blood, had arrived, whom Dido, 
with all her charms, vouchsafed to wed; that 
now in reveling with each other they en- 
joyed the winter, throughout its length, 
unmindful of their kingdoms, and enslaved 
by a base passion. 

With such news the foul goddess fills the 
mouths of the people. To king Iarbus 
straight she turns her course; inflames his 
soul by her rumors, and aggravates his rage. 
This Iarbus, the son of Ammon by the rav- 
ished nymph Garamantis, raised to Jove a 
hundred lofty temples within his extensive 
realms, a hundred altars; and there had he 
consecrated the wakeful fire, with a sacred 
watch to keep eternal guard, a piece of 
ground, fattened with victims' blood, and 
the gates adorned with wreaths of various 
flowers. He, maddened in soul, and in- 
flamed by the bitter tidings, is said, before 
the altars, amid the very presence of the 
gods, to have [thus] importunately addressed 
Jupiter in suppliant form with uplifted 
hands : Almighty Jove, to whom the Mauru- 
sian race, that feast on painted couches, now 
honor thee with a libation of wine, seest 



120 virgil's ^eneid. book iv [208-228 

thou these things? or do we vainly dread 
thee, when thou, father ! dartest thy thun- 
der-bolts? and are those lightnings in the 
clouds that terrify our minds blind and for- 
tuitous, and do they mingle mere idle 
sounds? A wandering woman, who hath 
built in her dominions a small city [on a 
spot] she purchased; to whom we assigned 
a tract of shore for tillage, and upon whom 
we imposed the laws of the country, hath 
rejected our proffered match, and hath 
taken ^Eneas into her kingdom for her lord : 
and now this other Paris, with his unmanly 
train, bound under the chin with a Lydian 
cap, and with his locks bedewed [with odors], 
enjoys the ravished prize: [this we have 
deserved forsooth,] because we bring offer- 
ings to thy temples, and cherish an idle 
glory. 

While in such terms he addressed his 
prayer, and grasped the altar, the almighty 
heard, and turned his eyes towards the royal 
towers [of Carthage], and the lovers regard- 
less of their better fame. Then thus he 
bespeaks Mercury, and gives him these in- 
structions: Fly quick, my son, call the 
zephyrs, and on thy pinions glide: and to 
the Trojan prince, who now loiters in 
Tyrian Carthage, nor regards the cities al- 
lotted him by the Fates, address yourself; 
and bear [this] my message swiftly through 
the skies. Not such a one did his fairest 



229-249] virgil's ^eneid. book iv 121 

mother promise us, nor was it for this she 
saved him twice from the Grecian sword: 
but that he should be one who should rule 
Italy, big with [future] empire, and fierce 
in war, who should evince his descent from 
Teucer's noble blood, and bring the whole 
world under his sway. If he is not fired 
by the glory of such deeds, nor will himself 
attempt any laborious enterprise for his own 
renown, will he, the father, envy Ascanius 
Kome's imperial towers? What does he pro- 
pose? or with what prospect lingers he so 
long among an unfriendly race, nor regards 
his Ausonian offspring, and Lavinian fields? 
Bid him set sail. No more: be this our 
message. 

He said : Mercury prepared to obey his 
mighty father's will : and first to his feet he 
binds his golden sandals, which by their 
wings waft him aloft, whether over sea or 
land, swift as the rapid gales. Next he takes 
his wand; with this he calls from hell the 
pale ghosts; despatches others down to sad 
Tartarus, gives sleep, or takes it away, and 
unseals the eyes from death. Aided by this, 
he drives along the winds, and breasts the 
troubled clouds. And now in his flight he 
espies the top and lofty sides of hardy Atlas, 
who with his summit supports the sky. 
Atlas, whose head, crowned with pines, is 
always encircled with black clouds, and 
lashed by wind and rain: large sheets of 



122 virgil's ^ENEID. BOOK IV [250-272 

snow enwrap his shoulders; from his aged 
chin torrents headlong roll, and his grisly 
beard is stiff with icicles. Here first Cylle- 
nius, poising himself on even wings, 
alighted; hence with the weight of his whole 
body he flings himself headlong to the 
floods; like the fowl, which [hovering] 
about the shores, about the fishy rocks, flies 
low near the surface of the seas: just so 
Maia's son, shooting down from his mater- 
nal grandsire between heaven and earth, 
[skimmed along] the sandy shore of Libya, 
and cut the winds. As soon as he touched 
the cottages [of Afric] with his winged feet, 
he views iEneas founding towers, and rais- 
ing new structures; and at his side he wore 
a sword studded with yellow jasper, and a 
cloak, hanging down from his shoulders, 
glowed with Tyrian purple; presents which 
wealthy Dido had given, and had interwoven 
the stuff with threads of gold. Forthwith 
he accosts him : Is it for you now to be 
laying the foundations of stately Carthage, 
and, the fond slave of a wife, be raising a 
city [for her], regardless, alas! of your 
kingdom and nearest concerns? The sov- 
ereign of the gods, who governs heaven and 
earth by his nod, himself sends me down to 
you from bright Olympus. The same com- 
manded me to bear these his instructions 
swiftly through the air. What dost thou 
propose, or with what prospect dost thou 



273-293] Virgil's ^neid. book iv 123 

waste thy peaceful hours in the territories 
of Libya? If no glory from such deeds 
moves thee, and thou wilt attempt no la- 
borious enterprise for thy own renown; have 
some regard [at least] to the rising Asca- 
nius, and the hopes of thine heir lulus, for 
whom the kingdom of Italy and the Eoman 
territories are destined. When Cyllenius 
had spoken thus, he left mortal vision in 
the very midst of the conference, and far 
beyond sight vanished into thin air. 

Meanwhile ^Eneus, entranced by the 
vision, was struck dumb; his hair with hor- 
ror stood erect, and his tongue cleaved to 
his jaws. He burns to be gone in flight, 
and leave the darling land, awed by the 
message and dread command of the gods. 
Ah ! what can he do ? in what terms can 
he now presume to solicit the consent of the 
raving queen? With what words shall he 
introduce the subject? And now this way, 
now that, he swiftly turns his wavering 
mind, snatches various purposes by starts, 
and roams uncertain through all. Thus 
fluctuating, he fixed on this resolution as 
the best: he calls to him Mnestheus, Serges- 
tus, and the brave Cloanthus; [and bids 
them] with silent care equip the fleet, sum- 
mon their social bands to the shore, prepare 
their arms, and artfully conceal the cause 
of this sudden change : [adding,] that he 
himself, in the meantime, while generoiis 



124 virgil's ^eneid. book iv [294-313 

Dido was in ignorance, and had no appre- 
hension that their so great loves could be 
dissolved, would try the avenues [to her 
heart], what may be the softest moments of 
address, what means might be most favor- 
able to their design. With joyful speed they 
all obey the commands, and put his orders 
into execution. 

But the queen (who can deceive a lover?) 
was beforehand in perceiving the fraud, and 
the first who conjectured their future mo- 
tions, dreading even where all seemed to be 
safe : the same malignant fame conveyed the 
news to her frantic, that the fleet was being 
equipped, and preparing to set sail. She rages 
even to madness, and inflamed, she wildly 
roams through all the city : like a Bacchanal 
wrought up into enthusiastic fury in cele- 
brating the sacred [mysteries of her god], 
when the triennial orgies stimulate her, at 
hearing the name of Bacchus, and the noc- 
turnal howlings on Mount Citheron invite 
her. At length, in these words she first accosts 
iEneas : And didst thou hope, too, perfidious 
one, to be able to conceal from me so wicked 
a purpose, and to steal away in silence from 
my coasts? Can neither our love, nor thy 
once plighted faith, nor Dido resolved to 
die by a cruel death, detain thee? Kay, you 
prepare your fleet even in the wintry season, 
and haste to launch into the deep amidst 
northern blasts! Cruel one! suppose you 



314-333] virgil/s ^neid. book iv 125 

were not bound for a foreign land and set- 
tlements unknown, the old Troy was still 
remaining; should you set sail for Troy on 
this tempestuous sea? Wilt thou fly from 
me? By these tears, by that right hand 
(since I have left nothing else to myself 
now, a wretch forlorn,) by our nuptial rites, 
by our conjugal loves begun; if I have de- 
served any thanks at thy hand, or if ever 
you saw any charms in me, take pity, I im- 
plore thee, on a falling race, and, if yet there 
is any room for prayers, lay aside your reso- 
lution. For thy sake have I incurred the 
hatred of the Libyan nations, of the Nu- 
midian princes, and made the Tyrians my 
enemies; for thy sake have I sacrificed my 
shame, and, what alone raised me to the 
stars, my former fame: to whom didst thou 
abandon Dido, soon about to die, my guest! 
since, instead of a husband's name, only this 
remains? What wait I for? is it till my 
brother. Pygmalion lay this city of mine in 
ashes, or Iarbas, the Getulian, carry me away 
his captive? Had I but enjoyed offspring 
by thee before thy flight; did a young iEneas 
play in my hall, were it but to give me thy 
image in his features, I should not indeed 
have thought myself quite a captive and 
forlorn. 

She said. He, by the commands of Jove, 
held his eyes unmoved, and with hard strug- 
gles suppressed the anxious care in his heart. 



126 virgil's ^neid. book iv [334-354 

At length he briefly replies, That you, 
queen, have laid on me numerous obliga- 
tions, which you may recount at large, I 
never shall disown; and I shall always re- 
member Elisa with pleasure, while I have 
any remembrance of myself, while I have 
a soul to actuate these limbs. But to the 
point in debate I shall briefly speak : believe 
me, I neither thought by stealth to have 
concealed this my flight, nor did I ever pre- 
tend a lawful union, or enter into such a 
contract. Had the Fates left me free to 
conduct my life by my own direction, and 
ease my cares according to my own choice; 
my first regards had been shown to Troy 
and the dear relics of my country; Priam's 
lofty palace should [now] remain, and with 
this hand I would have repaired for the 
conquered the walls of Pergamus, raised 
again from ruin. But now to great Italy 
Grynaean Apollo, to Italy the Lycian oracles 
have commanded me to repair. This is the 
object of my love, this my country. If the 
towers of Carthage and the sight of a Libyan 
city engross you, a Phoenician born, why 
should you be dissatisfied that we Trojans 
settle in the land of Ausonia? Let us too 
have the privilege to go in quest of foreign 
realms. Whenever the night overspreads the 
earth with humid shades, as often as the 
fiery stars arise, the troubled ghost of my 
father Anchises visits me in my dreams, and 



355-372] virgil's ^eneid. book iv 127 

with dreadful summons urges [my depar- 
ture] : my son Ascanius [calls] me [hence], 
and the injury done to one so dear, whom I 
defraud of the Hesperian crown, and his 
destined dominions. Now also the messen- 
ger of the gods, despatched from Jove him- 
self, (I call them both to witness!) swift 
gliding through the air, bore to me his high 
commands : myself beheld the god in con- 
spicuous brightness entering your walls, and 
with these ears I received his voice. Cease 
to torment yourself and me by your com- 
plaints: the Italian coasts I pursue, not out 
of choice. 

Thus while he speaks, she views him all 
along from the beginning with averted 
looks, rolling her eyes hither and thither, 
and with silent glances surveys his whole 
person, then thus inflamed with wrath breaks 
forth: INTor goddess gave thee birth, per- 
fidious one ! nor is Dardanus the founder of 
thy race, but frightful Caucasus on flinty 
cliffs brought thee forth, and Hyrcanian 
tigers gave thee suck. For why should I 
dissemble? or for what greater injuries can 
I be reserved? Did he so much as sigh at 
my distress? did he once move his eyes? 
Did he, overcome, shed a tear, or compas- 
sionate me in my love ? Where shall I begin 
my complaint? Now neither mighty Juno 
nor the Saturnian sire, considers these 
things with impartial eyes. Firm faith no- 



128 virgil's ^NEID. BOOK IV [373-392 

where subsists. An outcast on my shores, 
an indigent wretch, I received him, and 
fool that 1 was, settled him in partnership 
of my crown; his wrecked fleet [I renewed], 
his companions from death I saved. Ah! 
I am all on fire, I am distracted with fury ! 
"Now the prophetic voice of Apollo; now 
the Lycian lots; and now the messenger of 
the gods, despatched from Jove himself, 
through the air conveys the horrid man- 
date." A worthy employment, forsooth, for 
the powers above, a weighty concern to dis- 
turb them in their peaceful state ! I neither 
detain you, nor argue against what you have 
said. Go, speed your way for Italy with the 
winds, pursue this kingdom of yours, over 
the waves. I hope, however, (if the just 
gods have any power,) thou mayest suffer 
punishment amid the rocks, and often 
[vainly] call on Dido's name. I, though 
absent, will pursue thee with black flames: 
and, when cold death shall have separated 
these limbs from my soul, as a shade will I 
haunt thee in every place: Wretch! thou 
shalt make atonement : I shall hear it ; even 
in the deep shades these tidings will reach 
me. With these words she breaks off in the 
middle of the conference, and sickening 
shuns the light: she turns about, and flings 
away out of his sight, leaving him greatly 
perplexed through fear, and preparing to 
say a thousand things. Her maids raise her 



393-413] virgil's ^neid. book iv 129 

up, bear her fainting limbs into her marble 
bed-chamber, and gently lay her on a couch. 

Meanwhile pious iEneas, though by sol- 
acing means he desires to ease her grief, and 
by words to divert her anguish, heaving 
many a sigh, and staggered in his mind by 
mighty love, yet gives obedience to the com- 
mands of the gods, and revisits his fleet. 
Then, indeed, the Trojans intensely ply 
their work, and launch the ships all along 
the shore. The pitchy keel floats; through 
eager haste to sail, they bring from the 
woods oars not cleared of leaves, and un- 
fashioned timber. You might have seen 
them removing, and pouring from all quar- 
ters of the town, as when ants, mindful of 
winter, plunder a large granary of corn, 
and hoard it up in their cell; the black bat- 
talion marches over the plains, and along the 
narrow track they convey their booty 
through the meadows; some, shoving with 
their shoulders, push forward the cumbrous 
grain; some rally the [straggling] bands, 
and chastise those that lag: the path all 
glows with the work. 

Dido, how wast thou then affected with 
so sad a prospect? What groans didst thou 
utter, when from thy lofty tower thou be- 
heldest the shore in its wide extent glowing 
[with bustle], and didst also observe, full in 
thy view, the whole watery plain resounding 
with such mingled shouts? Unrelenting 



130 VIRGIL'S iENEID. BOOK IV [414-435 

love, how irresistible is thy sway over the 
mind of mortals ! She is constrained once 
more to have recourse to tears, once more to 
assail him by prayers, and suppliant to sub- 
ject the powers of her soul to love, lest, by 
leaving any means unattempted, she should 
throw away her life rashly, and without 
cause. Anna, thou seest over all the shore 
how they are hastening: the whole bands 
are drawn together, the canvas now invites 
the gales; and the joyful mariners have 
crowned their sterns with garlands. sis- 
ter, since I was able to foresee this so sad 
a blow, I shall be able to bear it. Yet, 
Anna, perform this one request for your 
wretched sister: for that perfidious man 
made you the sole object of his esteem, even 
intrusted you with the secrets of his soul, 
you alone knew the occasions and soft ap- 
proaches to his heart. Go, sister, and in 
suppliant terms bespeak the haughty foe: I 
never conspired with the Greeks at Aulis 
to extirpate the Trojan race, or sent a fleet 
to Troy; nor did I disturb the ashes and 
manes of his father Anchises. Why does he 
stop his unrelenting ears to my words? 
whither does he fly? Let him grant but 
this last favor to his unhappy lover ; to defer 
his flight till it be safe, and till the winds 
blow fair. I plead no more for that old- 
promised wedlock, which he has betrayed; 
nor that he should deprive himself of fair 



436-455] virgil's ^eneid. book iv 131 

Latium, and relinquish a kingdom. I ask 
a trifling moment; a respite and interval 
from distracting pain, till, subdued by for- 
tune, I learn to sustain my woes. This favor 
I implore as the last, (pity thy sister!) 
which, when he has granted, I shall send 
him away completely happy in my death. 

To this effect she prayed; and her sister, 
deeply distressed, bears once and again this 
mournful message to iEneas; but by none 
of her mournful messages is he moved, nor 
listens with calm regard to any words. The 
Fates stand in his way; and heaven renders 
his ears deaf to compassion. And as the 
Alpine north winds by their blasts, now on 
this side, now on that, strive with joint force 
to overturn a sturdy ancient oak; a loud 
howling goes forth, and the leaves strew the 
ground in heaps, while the trunk is shaken; 
the tree itself cleaves fast to the rocks; and 
as high as it shoots up to the top in the 
ethereal regions, so deep it descends with its 
root towards Tartarus: just so the hero on 
this side and that side is plied with impor- 
tunate remonstrances, and feels deep pangs 
in his mighty soul; his mind remains un- 
moved; unavailing tears are shed. 

Then, indeed, unhappy Dido, struck to 
the heart by her fate, longs for death; she 
sickens of beholding the canopy of heaven. 
The more to prompt her to execute her pur- 
pose, and to part with the light, while she 



132 virgil's ,eneid. book iv [456-476 

was presenting her otierings upon the altar 
that smoked with incense, she beheld, horrid 
to relate ! the sacred liquors grow black, and 
the outpouring wine turn into inauspicious 
blood. This vision she revealed to none, not 
even to her sister. Besides, there was in the 
palace a marble shrine in honor of her for- 
mer husband, to which she paid extraor- 
dinary veneration, [having] it encircled 
with snowy fillets of wool and festal gar- 
lands. Hence voices, and the words of her 
husband calling her, seemed to be heard, 
when dim night shrouded the earth; and on 
the house-tops the solitary owl often com- 
plained in doleful ditty, and spun out his 
long notes in a mournful strain. Besides, 
many predictions of pious prophets terrify 
her with dreadful forebodings. iEneas him- 
self, now stern and cruel, disturbs her rav- 
ing in her sleep; and still she seems to be 
abandoned in solitude, still to be going a 
long, tedious journey, with no attendance, 
and to be in quest of her Tyrians in some 
desert country: as frantic Pentheus sees 
troops of Furies, two suns, and Thebes ap- 
pear double; or like Orestes, Agamemnon's 
son, with distraction hurried on the stage, 
when he flies from his mother, armed with 
firebrands and black snakes, and the avenged 
Furies are planted at the gate. 

When, therefore, overpowered with grief, 
she had taken the Furies into her breast, and 



477-495] VIRGIl/s iENEID. BOOK IV 133 

determined to die, she ponders the time and 
manner with herself; and thus accosting her 
sister, the partner of her grief, covers her 
intention in her looks, and puts on a serene 
air of hope. Bejoice, sister, with thy 
sister ! I have found an expedient, which 
will restore him to me, or set my love-sick 
soul at liberty from him. Near the ex- 
tremity of the ocean and the setting sun, 
the utmost boundary of ^Ethiopia lies, 
where mighty Atlas on his shoulder whirls 
about the globe, spangled with refulgent 
stars: hence appeared to me a priestess of 
the Massylian nation, the guardian of the 
temple of the Hesperides, who supplied the 
dragon with food, and watched the sacred 
branches on the tree, infusing liquid honey 
and the sleepy poppy. She undertakes, by 
charms, to release any souls, whom she will, 
[from the power of love,] and to entail on 
others irksome cares: to stop the course of 
rivers, and turn the stars backward: she 
summons up the ghosts by night. You shall 
see the earth bellow under her feet, and the 
wild ashes descend from the mountains. My 
dear sister, I call the gods, and you, and 
that dear person of thine, to witness, that 
it is against my will I set about these ma^ic 
arts. Do you in secrecy erect a funeral pile 
in the inner court, under the open air, and 
lay upon it his arms, which he, impiously 
base, left fixed in my bed-chamber, with all 



134 virgil's ^eneid. book iv [496-518 

his clothes, and the nuptial bed in which I 
was undone. The priestess orders and 
directs me to destroy every monument of 
that execrable man. Having thus said, she 
ceases: at the same time, paleness overcasts 
her whole complexion. Yet Anna imagines 
not that her sister aimed at death under the 
pretext of these unusual rites; nor once sus- 
pects that she had formed such a desperate 
purpose, nor dreads anything worse than had 
happened at the death of Sichaeus. There- 
fore she makes the desired preparations. 

But the queen, as soon as the vast pile 
was erected under the open air in the inner 
court, with torches and fagots of oak, en- 
circles the ground with garlands, and 
crowns it with funeral boughs : upon the bed 
she lays his clothes, the sword he left, and 
his image, well knowing of the future. 
Altars are raised around; and the priestess, 
her hair disheveled, with thundering voice, 
invokes three hundred gods, and Erebus, and 
Chaos, and threefold Hecate, virgin Diana's 
triple form. She sprinkled also water coun- 
terfeiting that of the lake Avernus: full- 
grown herbs, cut by moonlight with brazen 
sickles, are searched out, together with the 
juice of black poison : the [mother's] love, 
too, torn from the forehead of a new-foaled 
colt, and snatched away from the dam, is 
sought out. The queen herself, now reso- 
lute on death, having one foot bare, her robe 



519-539] VIRGIL'S iENEID. BOOK IV 135 

ungirt, standing by the altars, with the salt 
cake and pious hands, makes her appeal to 
the gods, and to the stars conscious of her 
fate : then, if any deity, both just and mind- 
ful, regards lovers unequally yoked, him she 
invokes. 

It was night, and weary bodies over the 
earth were enjoying a peaceful repose: the 
woods and raging seas were still; when the 
stars roll in the middle of their gliding 
course; when every field is hushed: the 
beasts and speckled birds, both those that 
far and wide haunt the liquid lakes, and 
those that possess the fields with rough 
bushes overgrown, all stretched under the 
silent night, allayed their cares with sleep, 
and every heart forgot its toil. But not so 
the soul-distressed queen; not one moment 
is she lulled to rest, nor enjoys the night 
with eyes or mind. Her cares redouble ; and 
love, again arising, rages afresh, and fluc- 
tuates with a high tide of passions. Thus 
then she persists, and revolves these secret 
reflections in her breast : Lo ! what shall I 
do? Baffled as I am, shall I, in my turn, 
apply to my former suitors? shall I humbly 
sue for a match with one of the Numidians, 
whom I have so often disdained as lords? 
Shall I then attend the fleet of Ilium, and 
submit to the basest commands of the Tro- 
jans? and that, because I am well rewarded 
for having lent them my assistance, and in 



136 virgil's ^jneid. book iv [540-562 

their grateful hearts a just sense of my 
former kindness remains? But, suppose I 
had the will, who will put it in my power, 
or receive into their proud ships me, the 
object of their hate? Ah ! lost one, art thou 
unacquainted with, art thou still to learn, 
the perfidiousness of Laomedon's race? 
What then? Shall I steal away by myself 
to accompany the triumphant crew? or, at- 
tended by my Tyrians, and all my people in 
a body, shall I pursue them, and again lead 
out to sea, and order those to spread their 
sails to the winds, whom, with much ado, 
I forced from Tyre? Nay, rather die, as 
you deserve, and end your woes with the 
sword. You, sister, subdued by my tears, 
you first oppressed my distracted mind with 
these woes, and exposed me to the enemy. 
Might I not have led an innocent unwedded 
life, like a savage of the field, and have 
avoided such cares? I have violated the 
faith I plighted to the manes of Sichaeus. 

Such heavy complaints she poured forth 
from her heart. ^Eneas, determined to de- 
part, was enjoying sleep in the lofty stern, 
all things being now in readiness. The form 
of the god, returning with the same aspect, 
appeared to him in his sleep, and thus again 
seemed to admonish him; in everything re- 
sembling Mercury, in voice, complexion, 
golden locks, and comely youthful limbs: 
"Goddess-born, can you indulge in sleep at 



563-582] virgil's .eneid. book iv 137 

this conjuncture ? Infatuated, not to see what 
dangers in a moment beset you, nor listen 
to the breathing of the friendly zephyrs ! 
She, bent on death, is revolving guileful 
purposes and horrid wickedness in her 
breast, and fluctuates with a tide of angry 
passions. Will you not fly hence with pre- 
cipitation, while thus to fly is in your power ? 
Forthwith you shall behold the sea in com- 
motion with her oars, and torches fiercely 
blaze; forthwith the shore lighted up with 
flames, if the morning reach you lingering 
on these coasts. Come then, quick, break 
off delay : woman is a fickle and ever change- 
able creature." This said, he mingled w T ith 
the sable night. 

Then, indeed, iEneas, in consternation at 
this sudden apparition, snatches his frame 
from the couch, and arouses his companions : 
Awake, my mates, in haste, and plant your- 
selves on the benches; instantly unfurl the 
sails. A god, despatched from the high 
heavens, once more prompts me to hasten 
my departure, and cut the twisted cables. 
We follow thee, holy power, whoever thou 
art, and once more with joy obey thy com- 
mands. Ah ! be present, lend up thy pro- 
pitious aid, and light up friendly stars in 
the heavens. He said, and snatches his keen 
flashing sword from the sheath, and cuts 
the halsers with the drawn steel. The same 
eagerness at once seizes them all: they hale, 



138 virgil's jENEid. book iv [583-603 

they hurry away: they have quitted the 
shore: the sea lies hidden under the fleet; 
they with exerted vigor upturn the foaming 
billows, and sweep the azure deep. 

And now Aurora, leaving Tithonus' saf- 
fron bed, first sowed the earth with new- 
born light: soon as the queen from her 
watch-towers marked the dawn whitening, 
and the fleet setting forward with balanced 
sails, and perceived the shore and vacant 
port without a rower; thrice and four times 
smiting her fair bosom, and tearing her 
golden locks : Jupiter ! shall he go ? she 
says: and shall this stranger mock my king- 
dom? Will they not make ready arms, and 
pursue from all the city ? and will not others 
tear my ships from the docks? Eun quick, 
fetch flames, unfurl the sails, ply the oars. 
What am I saying? or where am I? what 
madness turns my brain? Unhappy Dido! 
art thou then at length stung with the sense 
of his foul impious deeds? Then it had 
become thee so to act, when thou impartest 
[to him] thy scepter. Is this the honor, 
the faith! this [the man] who, they say, 
carries with him his country's gods! who 
bore on his shoulders his father spent with 
age ! Might I not have torn in pieces his 
mangled body, and strewn it on the waves? 
might I not with the sword have destroyed 
his friends, Ascanius himself, and served 
him up for a banquet at his father's table? 



604-624] VIRGIL' S .ENEID. BOOK IV 139 

But the fortune of the fight was doubtful. 
Grant it had been so : thus resolute on death, 
whom had I to fear? I might have hurled 
firebrands into his camp, filled the hatches 
with flames, extirpated the son, the sire, 
with the whole race, and flung myself upon 
the pile. Thou Sun, who with thy flaming 
beams surveyest all works on earth, and 
thou, Juno, the author and witness of these 
my cares; Hecate, with howlings invoked 
through the cities in the crossways by night ; 
and ye avenging Furies, and gods of dying 
Elisa! receive these my words; in justice to 
my wrongs, turn to me your divine regard, 
and hearken to my pra}^ers. If it must be, 
and Jove's decrees so require, if this be his 
determination, that the execrable traitor 
reach the port, and get safe to land: yet 
harassed, at least, by war, and the hostilities 
of an audacious people, expelled from his 
own territories, torn from the embraces of 
lulus, may he sue to others for relief, and 
see the ignominious deaths of his friends; 
and, after he shall have submitted to the 
terms of a disadvantageous peace, let him 
neither enjoy his crown, nor the wished-for 
light, but die before his time, and [lie] 
unburied in the midst of the sandy shore. 
These are my prayers; these the last words 
I pour forth with my blood. You, too, 
Tyrians, with irreconcilable enmity, pursue 
his offspring and all his future race, and 



140 VIRGINS ^NEID. BOOK IV [625-645 

present these offerings to my shade: let no 
amity or leagues between the two nations 
subsist. Arise some avenger from my ashes, 
who may persecute those Trojan fugitives 
with fire and sword, now, hereafter, at what- 
ever time power shall be given. Let them 
take this curse from me, that their shores, 
their waves, their arms, and ours, may still 
be opposed to one another; and may their 
posterity too [and ours] be still in war 
engaged. 

She said, and every way turned her shift- 
ing soul, seeking, as soon as possible, to 
bereave herself of the hated light. Then 
briefly thus she bespoke Barce, the nurse of 
Sichaeus (for the dark grave lodged her own 
in her native country) : Dear nurse, call 
hither to me my sister Anna; bid her make 
haste to sprinkle her body with running 
water, and bring with her the victims and 
the things for expiation of which I told 
her: thus let her come; and you yourself 
cover your temples with a holy fillet. I have 
a mind to finish the sacrifice begun with 
proper rites, which I have prepared for 
Jupiter Stygius, to put a period to my 
miseries, and to commit to the flames the 
pile of the Trojan. She said : the other 
quickened her pace with an old woman's 
officiousness. 

But Dido, trembling with agitation, and 
maddened on account of her horrid purpose, 



646-667] virgil's ^eneid. book iv 141 

rolling her blood-red eye-balls, her throbbing 
cheeks suffused with spots, and all pale with 
approaching death, burst into the gate of 
the inner palace, and frantic mounts the 
lofty pile, and unsheathes the Trojan sword ; 
a present not provided for such purposes as 
these. Here, after she had viewed the Tro- 
jan vestments and the conscious bed, having 
wept and mused awhile, she threw herself 
on the bed, and spoke her last words: Ye 
dear remains, while god and the fates per- 
mitted, receive this soul, and free me from 
these cares. I have lived, and finished the 
race which fortune gave me. And now my 
ghost shall descend illustrious to the shades 
below: I have raised a glorious city, have 
seen the walls of my own building, have 
avenged my husband, punished an unnatural 
brother; happy, ah! too happy, had but the 
Trojan ships never touched my shores ! She 
said, and pressing her lips to the bed, Shall 
I die unrevenged ? But let me die, she says : 
thus, thus with pleasure I descend to the 
shades below. Let the cruel Trojan from 
the sea feed his eyes with these flames, and 
bear with him the omens of my death. She 
said; and while she spoke, her attendants 
perceive her fallen on the sword, and the 
weapon stained with foaming gore, and her 
hands besmeared. The outcry reaches the 
lofty palace; fame wildly flies through the 
alarmed city; the houses ring with laments 



142 virgil's ^eneid. book iv [668-688 

tions, groans, and female yells, and the sky 
resounds with loud shrieks: just as if all 
Carthage, or ancient Tyre, in the hands of 
the invading enemy, were falling to the 
ground, and the furious flames were rolling 
over the tops of houses and temples. 

Her sister was breathless at the news, and 
with trembling haste, all aghast, tearing her 
face with her nails, and [beating] her bosom 
with her hands, rushes through the midst 
of the crowd, and calls her dying [sister] 
by name: sister, was this your meaning? 
did you practice thus to deceive me? was 
this what I had to expect from that pile, 
those fires and altars? Abandoned! where 
shall I begin to complain? Did you disdain 
a sister for your companion in death? Had 
you invited me to the same fate, one distress 
and one hour had snatched us both away by 
the sword. Did I raise [that pile] with 
these very hands, and with my voice invoke 
our country's gods, that I should cruelly ab- 
sent myself from you, thus stretched upon 
it. Ah sister! you have involved yourself 
and me, your people, your Tyrian nobles, 
and your city, in one common ruin. Let 
me bathe her wounds with water, and catch 
with my lips, if there be yet any straggling 
remains of breath. This said, she mounted 
the high steps, and in her bosom embracing, 
cherished her expiring sister with sighs, and 
dried up the black blood with her robe. She 



689-705] virgil's ^neid. book iv 143 

essaying to lift her heavy eyes, again sinks 
down. The wound deep fixed in her breast, 
emits a bubbling noise. Thrice leaning on 
her elbow, she made an effort to raise her- 
self up; thrice she fell back on the bed, and 
with swimming eyes sought the light of 
heaven, and having found it, heaved a groan. 
Then all-powerful Juno, in pity to her 
lingering pain and uneasy death, sent down 
Iris from heaven, to release the struggling 
soul and the tie that bound it to the body: 
for, since she neither fell by fate, nor by a 
deserved death, but unhappily before her 
time, and maddened with sudden rage, Pro- 
serpina had not yet cropped the yellow hair 
from the crown of her head, and condemned 
her to Stygian Pluto. Therefore dewy Iris, 
drawing a thousand various colors from the 
opposite sun, shoots downward through the 
sky on saffron wings, and alighted on her 
head: I, by command, bear away this lock 
sacred to Pluto, and disengage you from 
that body. She said, and cut the lock with 
her right hand: at once all the vital heat 
was extinguished, and life vanished into air. 



144 virgil's ^eneid. book v (1-16 



BOOK V 

In the Fifth Book, iEneas sails from Carthage for Italy, 
but is forced by a storm to revisit Drepanum in 
Sicily, where he celebrates the anniversary of his 
father's death by various games and feats at arms. 
Here the Trojan women set fire to the fleet, which is 
saved by the interposition of Jupiter, with the loss of 
four ships. After this event, iEneas pursues his 
voyage to Italy. 

Meanwhile., iEneas, in direct course, was 
now fairly on his route with the fleet, and 
was cutting the black billows before the 
wind, looking back to the walls which now 
glare with the flames of unfortunate Elisa. 
What cause may have kindled such a blaze 
is unknown; but the thought of those cruel 
agonies that arise from violent love when 
injured, and the knowledge of what frantic 
woman can do, led the minds of the Trojans 
through dismal forebodings. 

As soon as their ships held the main, 
and no more land appears, sky all around, 
and ocean all around; a dark lead-colored 
watery cloud stood over his head, bringing 
on night, and storm; and the waves became 
horrid in the gloom. The pilot Palinurus 
himself from the lofty stern [exclaims] : 
Ah ! why have such threatening clouds begirt 
the sky? or what, father Neptune, hast 
thou in view? Thus having spoken, he next 
commands to furl the sails, and ply the 
sturdy oars; the bellying canvas he turns 



17-38] virgil's ^neid. book v 145 

askance to the wind, and thus speaks : Mag- 
nanimous iEneas, should Jupiter on his au- 
thority assure me, I could not hope to reach 
Italy in this weather. The winds changed 
roar across our path, and arise thick from 
the darkening west, and the air is con- 
densed into cloud. We are neither able to 
make head against [the storm], nor even 
to withstand it : since fortune overpowers us, 
let us follow her, and turn our course where 
she invites us: the trusty shores of your 
brother Eryx, and the Sicilian ports, I deem 
not far off, if I but rightly remembering 
review the stars I observed before. Then the 
pious iEneas [said], I indeed have observed 
long ago that the winds urge us to this, and 
that your contrary efforts are in vain. Shift 
your course by the sails. Can any land be 
more welcome to me, or where I would sooner 
choose to put in my weather-beaten ships, 
than that which preserves for me Trojan 
Acestes, and in its womb contains the bones 
of my father Anchises? This said, they 
make towards the port, and the prosperous 
zephyrs stretch the sails: the fleet swiftly 
rides on the flood; and at length the joyous 
crew are wafted to the well-known strand. 
But Acestes, from a mountain's lofty sum- 
mit, struck with the distant prospect of their 
arrival, and at the friendly ships, comes up 
to them, all rough with javelins, and the 
hide of an African bear: whom, begotten 



146 virgil's ^dneid. book v [39-59 

by the river Chinisius, a Trojan mother 
bore. He, not unmindful of his origin, con- 
gratulates them on their safe arrival, and 
cheerfully entertains them with rude mag- 
nificence, and refreshes them fatigued with 
friendly cheer. 

When with the early dawn the ensuing 
bright day had chased away the stars, iEneas 
summons to council his followers from all 
the shore, and from the summit of a rising 
ground addresses them : Illustrious Trojans, 
whose descent is from the exalted blood of 
the gods, the annual circle is completed, by 
the fulfillment of months, since we lodged 
in the earth the relics and bones of my god- 
like sire, and consecrated to him the altars 
of mourning. And now the day, if I mis- 
take not, is at hand, which I shall always 
account a day of sorrow, always a day to be 
honored ; such, ye gods, has been your pleas- 
ure. Were I to pass this day in exile among 
the Syrtes of Getulia, or overtaken [by it] 
on the Grecian Sea, or in the city of Mycenae, 
yet would I regularly perform my annual 
vows, and the solemn funeral processions, 
and heap the altars with their proper offer- 
ings. Now, without premeditated design, 
though not, I judge, without the will or the 
influence of the gods, we are come to the 
ashes and bones of my own father, and are 
wafted to the friendly port which we are 
now entering. Come then, and let us all 



G0-8il virgil's ^eneid. book v 147 

celebrate the joyous rites. Let us pray for 
[prosperous] winds, and that, when our city 
is built, he will permit me to offer to him 
these rites annually in temples consecrated 
to his honor. Acestes, a son of Troy, gives 
you two oxen for each ship: invite to the 
feast your household and country gods, and 
those whom our host Acestes worships. Fur- 
ther, if the ninth morning shall bring forth 
the day fair and serene to mortals, and 
brighten up the world with its beams, I 
will propose to the Trojans the first trial 
of skill to be with the swiftest of their ships. 
And whoever excels in running, in strength 
who bodily dares, or moves superior in the 
javelin, and the light arrows, or who has 
courage to encounter with the bloody cestus ; 
let all such be ready at hand, and expect 
prizes of victory suitable to their merit. Do 
ye all keep religious guard over your lips, 
and encircle your temples with boughs. 

This said, he crowns his temples with his 
mother's myrtle. The same does Elymus; 
the same Acestes ripened in years; the same 
the boy Ascanius, whose example the other 
youths follow. He went from the assembly 
to the tomb with many thousands, in the 
center of a numerous retinue attending. 
Here in due form, by way of libation, he 
pours on the ground to Bacchus two bowls 
of wine, two of new milk, two of sacred 
blood; then scatters blooming flowers, and 



148 virgil's .eneid. book v [SI-1O1 

thus speaks: Hail, holy sire! once more 
hail, ye ashes revisited in vain; ye ghosts 
and shades of my father ! Heaven would not 
allow us to go together in quest of the 
bounds of Italy, and of the lands allotted 
to me by fate, or the Ausonian Tiber, what- 
ever river that is. He said; when from the 
bottom of the shrine a huge slippery snake 
trailed along, seven circling spires, seven 
folds, gently twining around the tomb, and 
gliding over the altars; whose back azure 
streaks, and whose scales drops of burnished 
gold brightened up ; as the bow in the clouds 
draws a thousand various colors from the 
opposite sun. iEneas stood amazed at the 
sight. At length the reptile, creeping with 
his long train between the bowls and smooth- 
polished goblets, gently tasted the banquet, 
and harmless retired again into the bottom 
of the tomb, and left the altars on which 
he had fed. iEneas with the more zeal pur- 
sues the sacrifice begun in honor of his 
father, in doubt whether to think it the 
genius of the place, or the attendant of his 
parent. He sacrificed five ewes, two years 
old, according to custom; as many sows, as 
many bullocks with sable backs: and he 
poured out wine from the goblets, and in- 
voked the soul of great Anchises, and his 
ghost from Acheron released. In like man- 
ner his companions offer gifts with joy, each 
according to his ability; they load the altars, 



102-122] virgil's ^eneid. book v 149 

and sacrifice bullocks. Others place the 
brazen caldrons in order, and, stretched 
along the grass, apply burning coals under 
the spits, and roast the flesh. 

Now the wished-for day approached, and 
the steeds of the sun ushering in the ninth 
morning with serene sky; fame, and the re- 
nown of illustrious Acestes, had drawn to- 
gether the neighborhood. They filled the 
shores with joyous crowd, some to see the 
Trojans, some too prepared to try their skill. 
The prizes first are set before their eyes in 
the midst of the circus ; sacred tripods, green 
garlands, and palms, the reward of the con- 
querors; arms, and vestments of purple dye, 
two talents, one of gold and one silver: and 
the trumpet from the midst of the rising 
ground gives the signal that the games are 
begun. 

Four ships selected from the whole fleet, 
equally matched with ponderous oars, first 
enter the lists. Mnestheus manages the 
swift-sailing Pristis, with stout rowers, 
[destined] soon [to be] the Italian Mnes- 
theus, from which name the family of Mem- 
mius is derived; Gyas, the huge Chimera 
of stupendous bulk, a work like a city, which 
with a triple tier the Trojan youth impel; 
the oars rise together in a triple row. Ser- 
gestus, from whom the Sergian family has 
its name, rides in the bulky Centaur; and 
Cloanthus in the sea-green Scylla, from 



150 VIRGIl/s jENEID. BOOK V [123-145 

whom, Eoman Cluentius, is thy descent. 
Far in the sea there lies a rock opposite 
to the foaming shore, which sometimes over- 
whelmed is buffeted by the swelling surges, 
when the wintry northwest winds overcloud 
the stars : in a calm it lies hushed, and rises 
above the still wave as a plain, and a delight- 
ful station for the cormorants basking in 
the sun. Here father iEneas erected a ver- 
dant goal of branching oak for a signal to 
the mariners; whence they might know to 
turn back, and whence to wind about the 
long circuits. Then they choose their places 
by lot ; and on the poops the leaders, adorned 
with gold and purple, shine from afar with 
distinguished luster. The rest of the youth 
are crowned with poplar wreaths, and glitter, 
having their naked shoulders besmeared with 
oil. They sit down side by side on the 
benches, and their arms are stretched to 
the oars : with eager attention they wait the 
signal, and their throbbing hearts beat 
heavily with the impulse of fear, and the 
generous thirst of praise. Then, as soon 
as the loud trumpet gave the signal, all 
(there is no delay) started from their bar- 
rier: the seamen's clamor strikes the skies; 
and the seas, upturned by their in-bent arms, 
foam. At once they plow the watery fur- 
rows; and the whole deep opens, convulsed 
with oars and trident beaks. Not with such 
violent speed the coursers in the two-yoked 



146-166] virgil's ^neid. book v 151 

chariot-race spring to the field, and start 
with full career from the goal; nor with 
such ardor do the charioteers shake the wav- 
ing reins over the flying steeds, and, bend- 
ing forward, hang to [give] the lash. Then, 
with the applause and uproar of the seamen, 
and the eager acclamations of the favoring 
crowd, every grove resounds: the bounded 
shores roll the voices on; the lashed hills 
re-echo the sound. Amidst the bustle and 
uproar, Gyas flies out before the rest, and 
scuds away the foremost on the waves : whom 
next Cloanthus follows, a more skillful 
rower, but the vessel, sluggish through its 
bulk, retards him. After these, at equal 
distance, the Pristis and Centaur strive to 
gain the foremost place. And now the Pris- 
tis has the advantage, now the huge Cen- 
taur gets before her vanquished [antago- 
nist] ; anon both advance together with 
united fronts, and with their long keels 
plow the briny waves. And now they were 
approaching the rock, and had reached the 
goal, when Gyas the foremost, and [hither- 
to] victorious, thus in mid-sea accosts 
Menoetes, the pilot of his ship : Whither, 
I pray, are you going so far to the right? 
this way steer your course; keep to the shore, 
and let the oar graze upon the rocks to the 
left: let others stand out to sea. He said: 
but Menoetes, dreading the hidden rocks, 
turns out his prow towards the waves. Gyas 



152 virgil's ^eneid. book v [167-186 

with loud voice called to him again, Menoetes, 
whither are you steering opposite? once 
more, I say, keep to the rocks: And lo! he 
espies Cloanthus pressing on his rear, and 
keeping a nearer compass. He, between 
Gyas^ ship and the roaring rocks, brushes 
along the left-hand path on the inside, and 
suddenly gets ahead of him who was before, 
and leaving the goal, gains the safe seas. 
Then indeed severe grief blazed up in the 
inmost vitals of the youth: nor were his 
cheeks free from tears; and regardless both 
of his own dignity and the safety of his 
friends, he hurls dastardly Mencetes head- 
long from the lofty stern into the sea. Him- 
self succeeds to the helm both as pilot and 
commander; encourages his men, and turns 
his rudder to the shore. But when encum- 
bered Mencetes with difficulty at length had 
risen from the deep bottom, being now in 
years, and languid by reason of his wet gar- 
ments, he crawls up to the summit of the 
rock, and sat down on the dry cliff. The 
Trojans laughed both to see him fall, and 
to see him swimming; and they renew their 
laughter when from his breast he vomits up 
the briny wave. Here Sergestus and Mnes- 
theus, the two last, were fired with joyous 
hope to outstrip Gyas lagging behind. Ser- 
gestus gets the start, and makes up to the 
rock, nor yet had he the advantage by the 
whole length of the ship, only by a part : 



187-209] VIRGIL'S iENEID. BOOK V 153 

the rival Pristis partly presses him with her 
beak. But Mnestheus on the mid-deck walk- 
ing among his crew animates them: My 
Hectorean bands, whom I chose associates in 
Troy's last fatal hour, now, now with keen- 
ness ply your oars; now exert that vigor, 
now that soul of which you were masters in 
the quicksands of Getulia, in the Ionian Sea, 
and on Malea's coast, where waves succeed- 
ing waves pursued us. Your Mnestheus as- 
pires not now to the foremost place, nor 
contends for the victory: though would to 
heaven ! but may those conquer to whom 
thou, Neptune, hast given that boon. Let 
us be ashamed to come in the last. Sur- 
mount, my countrymen, and repel that crim- 
inal disgrace. They bend to the oar with 
the greatest emulation : the brazen-beaked 
galley trembles with the vast strokes, and 
the [watery] surface flies from under them. 
Then thick panting shakes their limbs and 
parched jaws: sweat flows from every pore 
in rivulets. Mere chance procured the men 
the wished-for honor: for while Sergestus, 
between Mnestheus and the goal, in his furi- 
ous career, is pressing up the head of the 
ship to the rocks, and steers in a disad- 
vantageous place, he unluckily stuck among 
the jutting rocks. The cliffs are shaken, and 
on a sharp reef the struggling oars were 
loudly snapped, and the prow dashed against 
[the rocks] stood suspended. The mariners 



154 virgil's ^eneid. book v [210-228 

arise together, and with great clamor desist; 
and apply stakes shod with iron, and poles 
with sharpened points, and gather up their 
shattered oars on the stream. Meanwhile 
Mnestheus rejoiced, and more animated by 
this same success, with the nimble march of 
the oars, and winds called to his aid, cuts 
the easy waves, and scuds away on the open 
sea. As a pigeon, whose nest and darling 
young are in some harboring rock, suddenly 
scared from her covert, flies away into the 
fields, and, starting in a fright, gives a loud 
flapping with her wings against the nest; 
then, shooting through the calm still air, 
skims along the liquid way, nor moves her 
noble pinions: thus Mnestheus, thus the 
Pristis herself in her career, cuts the ut- 
most boundary of the watery plain; thus 
the mere vehemence of her motion carries 
her forward in her flying course. And first 
she leaves behind her Sergestus struggling 
against the high rocks and scanty shallows, 
in vain imploring aid, and trying to row on 
with shattered oars. Then he overtakes Gyas, 
and Chimera's self of mighty bulk: she 
yields, because she is deprived of her pilot. 
And now, in the very end of the course, Clo- 
anthus alone is before him; whom he en- 
deavors to reach, and straining with the 
utmost vigor, pursues. Then, indeed, the 
shouts redouble, and all, with hearty ap- 
plauses, stimulate him in the pursuit, and 



229-251] virgil's ^eneid. book v 155 

the sky resounds with roaring acclamations. 
These are fired with indignation, lest they 
should lose their possession of glory and the 
honor they have won; and they are willing 
to barter life for renown. Those success 
cherishes; they are able because they seem 
to be able. And, perhaps, they had both 
gained the prize with equaled beaks, had not 
Cloanthus, stretching out his hands to the 
sea, poured forth prayers and invoked the 
gods to his vows : Ye gods, to whom belongs 
the empire of the main, over whose seas I 
sail, I, bound by vow, will joyously present 
before your altars a snow-white bull on this 
shore, and cast forth the entrails on the 
briny wave [as an offering to you], and make 
a libation of pure wine. He said: and the 
whole choir of the Nereids and Phorcus, 
and the virgin Panopea, heard him from the 
bottom of the waves; and father Portunus 
himself, with his mighty hand, pushed on 
the galleys in her course. She flies to land 
swifter than the south wind, and the winged 
arrow, and lodged herself in the harbor's 
deep recess. Then Anchises' son, having 
assembled all in form, proclaims Cloanthus 
conqueror, by the loud voice of the herald, 
and crowns his temples with verdant laurel; 
allows him the choice of three bullocks as 
presents for the galleys, and gives him wine 
and a great talent of silver to carry away. 
On the leaders themselves he confers pe- 



156 virgil's .eneid. book v [252-272 

culiar honors: to the conqueror he presents 
a mantle embroidered with gold, round 
which a thick fringe of Melibean purple ran 
in a double maze, and where the royal boy 
[Ganymede] inwoven pursues, with darts 
and full career, the fleet stags on woody Ida, 
eager, seeming to pant for breath; whom 
Jove's swift armor-bearer, with his crooked 
talons, snatched aloft from Ida. The aged 
keepers in vain stretch out their hands to 
the stars, and the baying of the hounds rages 
to the skies. To him who by his merit won 
the second place, he gives to wear a coat of 
mail, thick set with polished rings, and 
wrought in gold with a triple tissue, which 
he himself victorious had torn from Demo- 
leus by rapid Simois under lofty Ilium: to 
be his ornament and defense in war. The 
servants, Phegeus and Sagaris, with united 
force, scarcely bore the cumbrous [armor] 
on their shoulders: but Demoleus, formerly 
clad therein, used to chase before him the 
straggling Trojans. For the third present 
he bestows two caldrons of brass, and silver 
bowls of finished work, and rough with 
figures. And thus now all rewarded, and 
elated with their wealth, were moving along, 
having their temples bound with scarlet 
fillets, when Sergestus brought up his hooted 
galley without honor, hardly with much art 
disentangled from the cruel rock, with the 
of her oars, and in one tier quite dis- 



273-294] virgil's ^neid. book v 157 

abled. As often a serpent surprised in the 
highway, (which a brazen wheel hath gone 
athwart, or a traveler, coming heavy with a 
blow, hath left half dead and mangled by a 
stone,) attempting in vain to fly, shoots his 
body in long wreaths ; in one part fierce, 
darting fire from his eyes, and rearing aloft 
his hissing neck; the other part, maimed 
with the wound, retards him, twisting [his 
body] in knots, and winding himself up on 
his own limbs: with such kind of steerage 
the ship slowly moved along : her sails, how- 
ever, she expands, and enters the port with 
full sail. iEneas gladly confers on Sergestus 
the promised reward for preserving the ves- 
sel, and bringing the crew safe back. To 
him is given a female slave, not unskillful 
in the works of Minerva, Pholoe, a Cretan 
by extraction, with her two children on the 
breast. 

This game being over, pious iEneas ad- 
vances to a grassy plain, which woods on 
winding hills enclosed around; and in the 
mid- valley was the circuit of a theater, 
whither the hero, in the midst of many thou- 
sands, repaired, and took a high seat. Here 
he offers inviting rewards to those who 
chanced to be inclined to enter the lists in 
the rapid race, and exhibits the prizes. The 
Trojans and Sicilians, in mingled throngs, 
convene from every quarter : Nisus and 
Euryalus the first: Euryalus, distinguished 



158 virgil's ^eneid. book v [295-317 

by his lovely form and blooming youth; 
Nisus, by his true affection for the boy: 
whom next Diores followed, a royal youth of 
Priam's illustrious line. After him Salius, 
and with him Patron; of whom the one was 
an Acarnanian, the other from Arcadia, of 
the blood of the Tegsean race. Next two 
Sicilian youths, Elymus and Panopes, trained 
to the woods, the companions of aged 
Acestes ; and many more besides, whom fame 
hath buried in obscurity. In the midst of 
whom thus iEneas spoke: Mark these my 
words, and attend with joy: none of this 
throng shall go unrewarded by me. Two 
bright Gnossian darts of polished steel, and 
a carved battle-axe of silver, I will give 
[each man] to bear away. This honor shall 
be conferred equally on all. The first three 
shall receive prizes, and shall have their 
heads bound with swarthy olive. Let the first 
conqueror have a steed adorned with rich 
trappings; the second an Amazonian quiver 
full of Thracian arrows, which a broad 
belt of gold around embraces, and a buckle 
clasps with a tapering gem : and let the third 
content himself with this Grecian helmet. 
When he had thus said, they take their re- 
spective places, and upon hearing the signal, 
start in a trice, and quit the barrier, darting 
forward like a tempest: at the same time 
they mark the goal. Nisus gets the start, 
and springs away far before the rest, out- 



318-340] VIRGIL'S iENEID. BOOK V 159 

flying the winds and winged lightning. Next 
to him, but next by a long interval, follows 
Salius: then after him Euryalus, with some 
space left [between them] ; and Elymus fol- 
lows Euryalus ; close by whose side, lo ! next 
Diores flies, and now jostles heel with heel, 
pressing on his shoulder; and, had more 
stages remained, he had skipped away before 
him, or left the victory dubious. And now 
they were almost in the utmost bound, and, 
exhausted, were approaching towards the 
very goal; when unhappy Nisus slides in a 
slippery puddle of blood, as by chance it had 
been shed on the ground from victims slain, 
and soaked the verdant grass. Here the 
youth, already flushed with the joy of vic- 
tory, could not support his tottering steps 
on the ground he trod, but fell headlong 
amidst the noisome filth and sacred gore. 
He, however, was not then forgetful of Eury- 
alus, nor of their mutual affection; for, as 
he rose from the slippery mire, he opposed 
himself to Salius: he again, tumbling back- 
ward, lay prostrate on the clammy sand. 
Euryalus springs forward, and victorious by 
the kindness of his friend, holds the fore- 
most place, and flies with favoring applause 
and acclamation. Elymus comes in next; 
and Diores, now [entitled to] the third 
prize. Here Salius fills the whole assembly 
of the ample pit, and the front seats of the 
fathers, with loud outcries, and demands the 



160 virgil's ^eneid. book v [341-363 

prize to be given to himself, from whom it 
was snatched away by unfair means. The 
favor [of the spectators] befriends Euryalus, 
and his graceful tears, and merit that ap- 
pears more lovely in a comely person. 
Diores aids him, and exclaims with bawling 
voice; who succeeded to a prize, and had a 
claim to the last reward in vain, if the first 
honors be given to Salius. Then father 
iEneas said : Your rewards, youths, stand 
fixed, and none shall turn the prize out of 
its due course: give me leave to compassion- 
ate the disaster of my innocent friend. This 
said, he gives to Salius the huge hide of 
a Getulian lion, ponderous with shaggy fur 
and gilt claws. Upon this Nisus says, If to 
the vanquished such rewards be given, and 
your pity be extended to those that fell, 
what gifts are due to Nisus? [to me,] who 
by my merit won the first prize, had not the 
same unkind fortune which bore Salius down 
overpowered me. And with these words he 
at the same time showed his face and limbs 
besmeared with oozy filth. The excellent 
father smiled on his plight, and ordered 
the buckler to be produced, Didymaon's in- 
genious work, torn down by the Greeks from 
the sacred posts of Neptune's temple. With 
this signal present he rewards the illustrious 
youth. 

Next, when the race was finished, and the 
prizes were distributed: Now, [says he,] 



364-385] virgil's ^eneid. book v 161 

whoever he may be in whose breast courage 
and resolution dwell, let him stand forth, 
and raise aloft his arms, having his hands 
bound [with the cestus]. He said, and pro- 
poses a double prize for the combat: to the 
conqueror a bullock decked with gold and 
fillets; a sword and shining helm, the solace 
of the vanquished. Without delay, Dares 
showed his face with strength prodigious, 
and rears himself amidst the loud . murmurs 
of the spectators; he who alone was wont 
to enter the lists with Paris; the same at 
the tomb where mighty Hector lies, struck 
down victorious Butes of mighty frame, who 
boasted his descent from the race of Amycus, 
king of Bebrycia, and stretched him gasping 
on the tawny sand. Such Dares uprears his 
lofty head first in the lists, and presents his 
broad shoulders, and in alternate throws 
brandishes his arms around, and beats the 
air with his fists. For him a match is sought ; 
nor dares one of all that numerous crowd 
encounter him, and draw the gauntlets on 
his hands. Elated, therefore, and imagining 
that all had quitted pretension to the prize, 
he stood before iEneas' feet : and then, with- 
out further delay, with his left hand he 
seizes the bull by the horns, and thus speaks : 
Goddess-born, if no one will dare to trust 
himself to the combat, where will be the end 
of hanging on? how long must I be de- 
tained? Order the presents to be brought. 



162 virgil's .eneid. book v [386-406 

At the same time all the Trojans murmured 
their consent, and ordered the promised 
prizes to be delivered to him. Then ven- 
erable Acestes thus chides Entellus, as he 
sat beside him on the verdant grassy couch: 
Entellus, in vain [reputed] the stoutest of 
champions once, will you then suffer so great 
prizes to be carried off without any con- 
test? Where is now that god of ours, Eryx, 
whom you in vain gave out to be your mas- 
ter? where is your fame through all Trin- 
acria? where the spoils that used to hang 
from your roof? He to this immediately 
[replies] : It is not that my thirst of praise 
is gone, or my glory has departed, driven 
away by fear : but my frozen blood languishes 
through enfeebling age, and the strength 
worn out in my body is benumbed. Did I 
but now enjoy that youth which once I had, 
and wherein that varlet triumphs with vain 
confidence, then would I have taken the 
field ; not indeed induced by the prize of this 
fair bullock, for I regard not rewards. Thus 
having spoken, he then throws into the midst 
a pair of gauntlets of huge weight; where- 
with fierce Eryx was wont to engage in the 
fight, and to brace his arms with the stub- 
born hide. Amazement seized their minds. 
Seven huge thongs of such vast oxen lay 
stiffening with lead and iron sewed within. 
Above all Dares himself stands aghast, and 
utterly declines the combat: and the mag- 



407-4291 virgil's ^sneid. book v 163 

nanimous son of Anchises this way and that 
way poises the weight and the complicated 
folds of the gauntlets. Then the aged cham- 
pion thus spake from his soul : What if any 
[of you] had seen the gauntlet and arms 
of Hercules himself, and the bloody combat 
on this very shore ? These arms your brother 
Eryx formerly wore. You see them yet 
stained with blood and shattered brains. 
With these he stood against great Alcides: 
with these I was wont [to combat], while 
better blood supplied me with strength, nor 
envious age as yet had shattered gray hairs 
over my temples. But if Trojan Dares de- 
cline these our arms, and if the pious iEneas 
be so determined, and Acestes, who prompts 
me [to the fight], approve, let us be equally 
matched: To oblige you, I lay aside the 
weapons of Eryx; dismiss your fears, and 
do you put off your Trojan gauntlets. This 
said, he flung from his shoulders his double 
vest, and bared his huge limbs, his big 
bones and sinewy arms, and stood forth of 
mighty frame in the middle of the field. 
Then the sire, sprung from Anchises, 
brought forth equal gauntlets, and bound 
both their hands with equal arms. Forth- 
with each on his tiptoes stood erect, and 
undaunted raised his arms aloft in the air. 
Far from the blow they backward withdrew 
their towering heads : now hand to hand they 
join in close encounter, and provoke the 



164 virgil's jENEld. book v [430-451 

fight; the one having the advantage in 
agility of foot, and relying on his youth; 
the other surpassing in limbs and bulk; but 
his feeble knees sunk under his trembling 
body: his difficult breathing shakes his vast 
frame. The heroes deal many blows to one 
another with erring aim, and many on the 
hollow sides redouble; from their breasts 
[the thumps] resound aloud, and round their 
ears and temples thick strokes at random 
fly; their jaws crackle under the heavy blow. 
Entellus stands stiff and unmoved in the 
same firm posture, only with his body and 
watchful eyes evades the strokes. The other, 
as one who besieges a lofty city with bat- 
teries, or under arms besets a mountain for- 
tress, explores now these, now those ap- 
proaches, and artfully traverses the whole 
ground, and pursues his attack with various 
assaults, still baffled. Entellus, rising on 
tiptoe, extended his right arm, and lifted 
it on high: the other nimbly foresaw the 
blow descending from above, and with 
agility of body shifting, slipped from under 
it. Entellus spent his weight on the wind; 
and, both by the force of his own natural 
weight, and the violence of the motion, falls 
to the ground of himself with his heavy 
bulk; as sometimes, on Erymanthus or 
spacious Ida, a hollow pine torn from the 
roots tumbles down at once. The Trojan 
and Sicilian youth rise together with eager 



452-472] VIRGIl/S ^NEID. BOOK V 165 

feelings : their acclamations pierce the skies ; 
and Acestes first advances in haste, and in 
pity raises from the ground his friend of 
equal age. But the hero, not disabled nor 
daunted by his fall, returns to the combat 
more fierce, and indignation rouses his 
spirit: then shame and conscious worth set 
all the powers of his soul on fire; and in- 
flamed he drives Dares headlong over the 
whole plain, redoubling blows on blows, 
sometimes with the right hand, sometimes 
with the left. No stop, no stay: as thick 
showers of hail come rattling down on the 
house-tops, so with thick repeated blows, 
the hero thumps Dares with each hand, and 
tosses him hither and thither. Then father 
iEneas suffered not their fury longer to 
exert itself, nor Entellus to rage with such 
fierce animosity; but put an end to the com- 
bat, and rescued Dares quite overpowered, 
soothing him with words, and bespeaks him 
in these terms : Unhappy ! what strong in- 
fatuation possessed your mind? Are you not 
sensible of [his having] foreign assistance, 
and that the gods have changed sides ? Yield 
to the deity. He said, and by his word put 
an end to the combat. As for Dares, his 
trusty companions conduct him to the ships, 
dragging his feeble limbs, and tossing his 
head to either side, disgorging from his 
throat clotted gore, and teeth mingled with 
his blood ; and, at iEneas' call, they take the 



166 vikgil's ^ENEID. BOOK V [473-495 

helmet and sword, leave the palm and bull 
to Entellus. At this the conqueror, in soul 
elated, and proud of the bull, says : Goddess- 
born, and ye Trojans, hence know both what 
strength I have had in my youthful limbs, 
and from what death you have saved Dares. 
He said, and stood against the front of the 
opposite bull that was set for the prize of 
the combat, and rearing himself up, with his 
right hand drawn back, leveled the cruel 
gauntlets directly between the horns, and, 
battering the skull, drove through the bones. 
Down drops the ox, and, in the pangs of 
death, falls sprawling to the ground. Over 
him he utters these words: This life, more 
acceptable, Eryx, I give thee in exchange 
for Dares' death ; here, victorious, I lay down 
the gauntlets with my art. 

iEneas forthwith invites such as may be 
willing to try their skill with the swift ar- 
row, and sets prizes: and with his mighty 
hand raises a mast taken from Serestus* ship, 
and from the high mast hangs a fluttering 
dove by a rope thrust through at which they 
may aim their shafts. The competitors as- 
semble: and a brazen helmet received the 
shuffled lots. The lot of Hippocoon, the son 
of Hyrtacus, comes out first of all with 
favoring shouts; whom follows Mnestheus, 
lately victor in the naval strife, Mnestheus, 
crowned with green olive. The third is Eury- 
tion, the brother, illustrious Pandarus, of 



496-518] virgil's ^neid. book v 167 

thee, who, once urged to violate the treaty, 
didst first hurl thy dart into the midst of 
the Greeks. Acestes remained the last, and 
in the bottom of the helmet; he too adven- 
turing with his [aged] hand to essay the 
feats of youth. Then with stout force they 
bend their pliant bows, each man according 
to his ability, and draw forth their arrows 
from their quivers. And first the arrow of 
young Hyrtacus' son, shot through the sky 
from the whizzing string, cleaves the fleet- 
ing air, both reaches [the mark], and fixes 
in the wood of the opposite mast. The mast 
quivered ; and the frighted bird, by its wings, 
showed signs of fear; and all quarters rang 
with loud applause. Next keen, Mnestheus 
stood with his bow close drawn, aiming on 
high, and directed his eye and arrow both 
together. But it was his misfortune not 
to be able to hit the bird itself with his 
shaft; he burst the cords and hempen liga- 
ments to which it hung tied by the foot 
from the high mast. She with winged speed 
shot into the air and dusky clouds. Then 
Eurytion in eager haste, having his arrow 
long before extended on the ready bow, 
poured forth a vow to his brother [Panda- 
rus], as he now beheld the joyful dove in 
the void sky, and pierced her under a dark 
cloud as she was clapping her wings. She 
dropped down dead, and left her life among 
the stars of heaven; and, falling to the 



168 virgil's ^eneid. book v [519-541 

ground, brings back the arrow fastened [in 
the wound]. Acestes alone remained after 
the prize was lost; who, notwithstanding, 
discharged his shaft into the aerial regions, 
the sire displaying both his address and 
twanging bow. Here is unexpectedly pre- 
sented to view a prodigy, designed to be of 
high portent; this the important event after- 
wards declared, and the alarming soothsayers 
predicted the omens late. For the arrow, 
flying among the watery clouds, took fire, 
aud with the flames marked out a path, till, 
being quite consumed, it vanished into thin 
air; as often stars loosened from the firma- 
ment shoot across, and flying draw [after 
them] a train of light. The Sicilians and 
Trojans stood fixed in astonishment, and 
besought the gods; nor does mighty iEneas 
reject the omen, but, embracing Acestes 
overjoyed, loads him with ample rewards, 
and thus bespeaks him: Accept these, 
sire, for the great king of heaven, by these 
omens, has signified his will, that you re- 
ceive the honor [of the victory, though] out 
of course. This gift, which belonged to aged 
Anchises' self, you shall possess; a bowl em- 
bossed with figures, which Thracian Cisseus 
formerly gave for a magnificent present to 
my sire, as a monument and pledge of his 
love. This said, he crowns his temples with 
verdant laurel, and in view of all pronounces 
Acestes the first conqueror. Nor does good 



542-563] virgil's ^eneid. book v 163 

Eurytion envy him the preference in honor, 
though he alone struck down the bird from 
the exalted sky. He next comes in for a 
prize, who broke the cords; the last is he 
who pierced the mast with his winged shaft. 
But father iEneas, the games not being 
yet ended, calls to him the son of Epytus, 
young lulus' guardian and companion, and 
thus whispers in his trusty ear: Go quick, 
says he, desire Ascanius (if he has not 
gotten ready with him his company of boys, 
and has arranged the movements of the 
horses) to bring up his troops, and show 
himself in arms in honor of his grandsire. 
He himself orders the crowd to remove from 
the extended circus, and the field to be 
cleared. The boys advance in procession, 
and uniformly shine on the bridled steeds 
full in their parents' sight; in admiration 
of whom, as they career along, the whole 
Trojan and Trinacrian youth join in accla- 
mations. All in due form had their hair 
pressed with a trim garland. They bear two 
cornel spears pointed with steel; some have 
polished quivers on their shoulders. A pliant 
circle of wreathed gold goes from the upper 
part of their breasts about their necks. Three 
troops of horsemen, and three leaders, range 
over the plain: twelve striplings following 
each, shine in a separate body, and with 
commanders equally matched. One band of 
youths young Priam, bearing his grandsire's 



170 virgil's ^ineid. book v [564-585 

name, leads triumphant; thy illustrious off- 
spring, Polites, who shall one day do 
honor to the Italians, whom a Thracian 
courser bears, dappled with white spots; the 
fetlocks of his foremost feet are white, and, 
tossing his head aloft, he displays a white 
front. The second is Atys, from whom the 
Attii of Eome have derived their origin; 
little Atys, a boy beloved by the boy lulus, 
lulus the last, and in beauty distinguished 
from all the rest, rode on a Sidonian steed 
which fair Dido had given him as a monu- 
ment and pledge of her love. The rest of 
the youths ride on Trinacrian horses of aged 
Acestes. The Trojans with shouts of ap- 
plause receive them anxious [for honor], and 
are well-pleased with the sight, and recog- 
nize the features of the aged sires. Now 
when the joyous youths had paraded on 
horseback round the w^hole ring, and full 
in their parents' view, Epytus' son, from 
afar, gave a signal to them by a shout, as 
they stood ready, and clanked with the lash. 
They broke away in parted order, keeping 
the same front, and broke up the troops into 
separate bands by threes; and again, upon 
summons given, they wheeled about, and 
bore their hostile spears [on one another]. 
Then they again advance, and again retreat 
in their opposite grounds, and alternately 
involve intricate circles within circles, and 
call up the representation of a fight in arms. 



586-606] virgil's .eneid. book v 171 

And now flying they expose their defense- 
less backs; now in hostile manner tarn their 
darts [on each other] : now, peace being made 
up, they are borne along together. As of 
old in lofty Crete was a labyrinth famed for 
having had an alley formed by dark intri- 
cate walls, and a puzzling maze with a thou- 
sand avenues, where a [single] mistake, un- 
observed, but not to be retraced, frustrated 
the marks for guiding one on the way; in 
just such course the sons of the Trojans 
involve their motions, and with intricate 
movement represent fighting and flying in 
sport ; like dolphins, that, swimming through 
the watery deep, cut the Carpathian or Lib- 
yan Sea, and gambol amid the waves. This 
manner of tilting, and those mock fights, 
Ascanius first renewed, and taught the 
ancient Latins to celebrate, when he was 
enclosing Alba Longa with walls : as he him- 
self, when a boy, as the Trojan youth with 
him [had practiced them], so the Albans 
taught their posterity; hence, in after times, 
imperial Rome received them, and preserved 
the same in honor of her ancestors : and at 
this day it is called [the game of] Troy, and 
the boys [that perform it], the Trojan band. 
Thus far the trials of skill were exhibited 
[by iEneas in honor] of his sanctified sire. 
Here shifting fortune, changing, first altered 
her faith. While they are celebrating the 
anniversary festival at the tomb with various 



172 VIRGlLo iENEID. BOOK V [607-629 

games, Saturnian Juno despatched Iris from 
heaven to the Trojan fleet, and with the 
fanning winds speeds her on her way, form- 
ing many plots, and having not yet glutted 
her old revenge. The virgin goddess accel- 
erating her way, seen by none, amidst the 
bow with a thousand colors, shoots down the 
path with nimble motion. She descries the 
vast concourse; then, surveying the shore, 
sees the port deserted, and the fleet de- 
serted. But at a distance the Trojan dames 
apart were mourning the loss of Anchises 
on the desolate shore, and all of them with 
tears in their eyes viewed the deep ocean: 
Ah! that so many shoals, such a length of 
sea should still remain for us after all our 
toils! was the sole complaint of all. They 
pray for a city, are sick of enduring the 
hardships of the main. Therefore she, not 
unpracticed in mischief, throws herself into 
the midst of them, and lays aside the mien 
and vesture of a goddess. She assumes the 
figure of Beroe, the aged wife of Thracian 
Doryclus, who was of noble birth, and once 
had renown, and offspring. And thus she 
joins in discourse with the Trojan matrons : 
Ah ! unhappy we, who were not dragged 
forth to death in the war by the Grecian 
host under our native walls ! Ill-fated race ! 
for what miserable doom does fortune reserve 
you? The seventh summer since the de- 
struction of Troy is already rolled away, 



630-649] VIRGIL'S ^NEID. BOOK V 173 

while we, having measured all lands and seas, 
so many inhospitable rocks and barbarous 
climes, are driven about; while along the 
wide ocean we pursue an ever-fleeing Italy, 
and are tossed on the waves. Here are the 
realms of his brother Eryx, and his friend 
Acestes: who prevents our founding walls, 
and giving our citizens a city? Ah, my 
country, and our gods in vain saved from 
the enemy ! shall a city never more arise 
to be named from Troy? Shall I never see 
the Hectorean rivers, Xanthus and Simois? 
Nay, rather come, and burn with me our 
cursed ships. For in my sleep the ghost of 
the prophetess Cassandra seemed to present 
me with flaming brands : Here, says she, 
seek for Troy, here is your fixed residence. 
Xow is the time for action. Xor let there 
be delay after such signs from heaven. Lo ! 
here are four altars to Xeptune : the god 
himself supplies us with fire-brands, and with 
courage [for the attempt]. With these words, 
she violently snatches the destroying fire, 
and, lifting up her right hand with exerted 
force, waves it at a distance, throws it. 
Boused are the minds and stunned the hearts 
of the Trojan matrons. Then one of the 
number, Pyrgo, the most advanced in years, 
the royal nurse to Priam's numerous sons, 
[said,] Matrons, this is not Beroe whom you 
have here, it is not she from Ehaeteum, the 
wife of Dorvclus : mark the characters of 



174 virgil's .eneid. book v [650-670 

divine beauty, eyes bright and sparkling; 
what breath, what looks; or the accents of 
her voice, or her gait as she moves. Myself 
lately, as I came hither, left Beroe sick, in 
great anguish that she alone was cut off from 
such a solemnity, and was not to pay the 
honors due to Anchises. She said. But the 
matrons first began to view the ships with 
malignant eyes, dubious and wavering be- 
tween their wretched fondness for the pres- 
ent land, and the realms that summoned 
them by the Fates; when on equal poised 
wings the goddess mounted into the sky, and 
in her flight cut the spacious bow beneath 
the clouds. Then, indeed, confounded at the 
prodigy, and driven by madness, they shriek 
out together, and snatch the flame from the 
inmost hearths. Some rifle the altars, and 
fling boughs, and saplings, and brands to- 
gether; the conflagration rages with loose 
reins amidst the rowers' seats, and oars, and 
painted sterns of fir. Eumelus conveys the 
tidings to Anchises' tomb, and to the benches 
of the theater, that the ships were burned; 
and they themselves behold the sparks of fire 
flying up in a pitchy cloud. And first, As- 
canius, as joj^ous he led the cavalcade, just 
as he was, with full speed rode up to the 
troubled camp; nor was it in the power of 
his guardians, half-dead with fear, to check 
him. What strange frenzy this ? whither, he 
cries, ah! my wretched countrywomen, 



671-693] virgil's .eneid. book v 175 

whither would you now ? It is not the enemy, 
or the hostile camp of the Greeks, but your 
own hopes ye burn. Here am I, your own 
Ascanius. He threw at their feet the empty 
helmet, which he wore while calling forth 
the images of war in sport. At the same 
time iEneas and the bands of the Trojans 
came up in haste. But the matrons for fear 
fly different ways up and down the shore, 
and skulking repair to the woods and hollow 
rocks wherever there are any. They loathe 
the deed, the light, and penitent recognize 
their friends; and Juno is dislodged from 
their breasts. But the flames and conflagra- 
tion did not therefore abate their ungovern- 
able fury. The tow lives under the moistened 
boards, disgorging languid smoke; the 
smothered fire gradually consumes the keel, 
and the contagious ruin spreads through the 
whole body of the vessel. Neither the efforts 
of the heroes, nor outpoured streams, avail. 
Then pious iEneas tore his robe from his 
shoulders, and invoked the gods to his aid, 
and stretched out his hands : Almighty Jove, 
if thou dost not yet abhor all the Trojans 
to a man, if the ancient goodness regards 
human disasters with commiseration, grant 
now, father, that our fleet may escape 
from these flames, and save from desolation 
the humbled state of the Trojans. Or, to 
complete thy vengeance, hurl me down to 
the death with thy vindictive thunder, if I 



176 virgil's ^bneid. book v [694-713 

so deserve, and crush me here with thy right 
hand. Scarce had he spoken these words, 
when a black tempest of bursting rain rages 
with uncommon fury: both hills and valleys 
quake with thunder; the shower in turbid 
rain, and condensed into pitchy darkness by 
the thick-beating south winds, pours down 
from the whole atmosphere. The ships are 
filled from above ; the half -burned boards are 
drenched, till the whole smoke is extin- 
guished, and all the ships, with the loss of 
four, are saved from the pest. 

But father JEneas, struck with the bitter 
misfortune, turned his anxious thoughts now 
this way, now that, pondering with himself 
whether she should settle in the territories 
of Sicily regardless of the Fates, or steer 
his course to the Italian coast. Then aged 
Nautes, whom above others Tritonian Pallas 
taught, and rendered illustrious for deep 
science, gave forth these responses, what 
either the great displeasure of the gods por- 
tended, or what the series of the Pates re- 
quired. And thus, solacing iEneas, he 
begins: Goddess-born, let us follow the 
Fates, whether they invite us backward or 
forward; come what will, every fortune is 
to be surmounted by patience. You have 
Trojan Acestes of divine origin: admit him 
the partner of your counsels, and unite your- 
self to him your willing friend : to him de- 
liver up such as are supernumerary, now that 



714-73G] V RGIL'S iENEID. BOOK V 177 

you have lost some ships; choose out those 
who are sick of the great enterprise, and of 
your fortunes; the old with length of years 
oppressed, and the matrons fatigued with 
the voyage; select the feeble part of your 
company, and such as dread the danger, and, 
since they are tired out, let them have a 
settlement in these territories : they shall call 
the city Acesta by a licensed nama. 

Then indeed iEneas, fired by these words 
of his aged friend, is distracted in his mind 
amidst a thousand cares. Xow sable Night, 
mounted on her chariot with two horses, 
held the skies, when the form of his father 
Anchises, gliding down from the skies, sud- 
denly seemed to pour forth these words : Son, 
once clearer to me than life, while life re- 
mained; my son, severely tried by the fates 
of Troy; hither I come by the command of 
Jove, who averted the fire from your fleet, 
and at length showed pity from the hi?h 
heaven. Comply with the excellent counsel 
which aged Nautes now offers: carry with 
you to Italy the choice of the youths, the 
stoutest hearts. In Latium you have to sub- 
due a hardy race, rugged in manners. But 
first, my son, visit Pluto's infernal mansions, 
and, in quest of an interview with me, cross 
the deep floods of Avernus : for not accursed 
Tartarus, nor the dreary ghosts, have me in 
their possession; but I inhabit the delightful 
seats of the blest, and Elysium. Hither the 



178 virgil's ^neid. book v [737-758 

chaste Sibyl shall conduct thee after shed- 
ding profusely the blood of black victims. 
Then you shall learn your whole progeny, 
and what walls are assigned to you. And 
now farewell : humid Night wheels about her 
mid course, and the dawning light, which 
fiercely summons me away, hath breathed 
upon me with panting steeds. He said ; and 
vanished like smoke into the fleeting air. 
Whither so precipitant? says then iEneas; 
whither dost thou whirl away? whom fliest 
thou ? or who debars me from my embraces ? 
So saying, he awakes the embers and dor- 
mant fire, and suppliant pays veneration to 
his Trojan domestic god, and the shrine of 
hoary Vesta, with a holy cake and full cen- 
ser. Forthwith he calls his followers, and 
first of all Acestes, and informs them of 
Jove's command, and the instructions of his 
beloved sire, and of the present settled pur- 
pose of his soul. No obstruction is given to 
his plans; nor is Acestes averse to the pro- 
posals made. They enroll the matrons for 
the city, and set on shore as many of the 
people as were willing, souls that had no 
desire of high renown. Themselves renew 
the benches, and repair the timbers half 
consumed by the flames; fit oars and cables 
to the ships; in number small, but of 
animated valor for war. 

Meanwhile iEneas marked out a city with 
the plow, and assigns the houses by lot : here 



759-779] virgil's ^eneid. book v 179 

he orders a [second] Ilium to arise, and 
these places to be called after those of Troy. 
Trojan Acestes rejoices in his kingdom; 
institutes a court of justice; and having as- 
sembled his senators, dispenses laws. Then 
on the top of Mount Eryx a temple approach- 
ing the stars is raised to Idalian Venus; 
and a priest is assigned to the tomb of An- 
chises, with a grove hallowed far and wide. 
And now the whole people had kept the fes- 
tival for nine days, and sacrifices had been 
offered on the altars, peaceful breezes have 
smoothed the seas, and the south wind in 
repeated gales invites into the deep. Loud 
lamentations along the winding shores arise : 
in mutual embraces they linger out both 
night and day. Even the matrons, and 
those to whom the face of the sea lately 
seemed horrid, and its divinity intolerably 
severe, would willingly go, and submit to all 
the toil of the voyage; whom good iEneas 
solaces in friendly terms, and, weeping, com- 
mends to his kinsman Acestes. Then he 
orders to sacrifice to Eryx three calves, and 
a female lamb to the tempests, and to weigh 
anchor after the due rites were performed. 
He himself, having his head bound with a 
trim garland of olive leaves, standing on 
the extremity of the prow, holds the cup, 
and casts forth the entrails on the briny 
waves, and pours the limpid wine. A wind 
arising from the stern accompanies them in 



ISO virgil's ^eneid. book v [780-800 

their course. The crew, with emulous vigor, 
lash the sea and brush its smooth surface. 

Meanwhile Venus, harassed with cares, 
addresses Neptune, and pours forth these 
complaints from her breast: The heavy re- 
sentment and insatiable passion of Juno 
compel me, Neptune, to descend to all 
entreaties; Juno, whom neither length of 
time nor any piety softens; and who is not 
quelled and subdued even by Jove's imperial 
sway, or by the Fates. It is not enough for 
her to have effaced the city from among the 
Phrj^gian race by her unhallowed hate, nor to 
have dragged its relics through all sorts of 
suffering; she persecutes the ashes and bones 
of ruined Troy. The causes of such furious 
resentment are to her best known. Yourself 
can witness for me what a heaving tempest 
she suddenly raised of late on the Libyan 
waves. The whole sea she blended in con- 
fusion with the sky, vainly relying on 
iEolus' storms; this presuming [even] in 
your realms. Lo also (0 wickedness!) by 
acting upon the Trojan matrons, she hath 
shamefully burned the ships, and forced 
their friends, now that they have lost their 
fleet, to abandon them in an unknown land. 
As to what remains, may they be allowed, I 
pray, to sail over the waves secure by thy 
protection: may they be allowed to reach 
Laurentian Tiber; if I ask what may be 
granted, if the Destinies assign those settle- 



801-8201 virgil's jENEid. book v 181 

ments. Then the Saturnian ruler of the 
deep ocean thus replied : Cytherea, it is per- 
fectly just that you confide in my realms, 
whence you derive your birth : besides, I have 
a just claim; [for] often have I checked the 
furious rage and maddening tumult of sea 
and sky. Nor was I less careful of your 
iEneas on earth (I call Xanthus and Simois 
to witness). When Achilles, pursuing the 
breathless troops of Troy, dashed them 
against their walls, gave many thousands to 
death, and the choked rivers groaned, and 
Xanthus could not find his way, nor dis- 
embogue himself into the sea ; then in a hol- 
low cloud I snatched away iEneas, while 
encountering the mighty Achilles with 
strength and gods unequal; though I was 
desirous of overthrowing from the lowest 
foundation the walls of perjured Troy, reared 
by my hands. And still I am of the same 
disposition: banish your fear; he shall ar- 
rive safe at the port of Avernus, which you 
desire. One only, lost in the deep, shall he 
seek for: one life shall be given for many. 
The sire, having by these words soothed and 
cheered the heart of the goddess, yokes his 
steeds to his golden car, puts, the foaming 
bit into their fierce mouths, and throws out 
all the reins ; Along the surface of the seas 
he nimbly glides in his azure car. The waves 
subside, and the swelling ocean smooths its 
liquid pavement under the thundering axle : 



182 virgil's ^neid. book v [821-842 

the clouds fly off the face of the expanded 
sky. Then [appear] the various forms of 
his retinue, unwieldy whales, and the aged 
train of Glaucus, and Palemon, Ino's son, 
the swift Tritons, and the whole band of 
Phorcus. On the left are Thetis, Melite, and 
the virgin Panopse, Nesaee, Spio, Thalia, and 
Cymodoce. Upon this, soft joys in their 
turn diffuse themselves through the anxious 
soul of father JEneas. Forthwith he orders 
all the masts to be set up, and the yards 
to be stretched along the sails. At once 
they all tacked together, and together let go 
sometimes the left-hand sheets, sometimes 
the right: at once they turn and turn back 
the lofty end of the sail-yards : friendly gales 
waft the fleet forward. Palinurus, the mas- 
ter-pilot, led the closely-united squadron: 
towards him the rest were ordered to steer 
their course. 

And now the dewy night had almost 
reached the middle of her course; the weary 
sailors, stretched along the hard benches 
under the oars, relaxed their limbs in peace- 
ful repose; when the god of sleep, gliding 
down from the ethereal stars, parted the 
dusky air, and dispelled the shades; to you, 
Palinurus, directing his course, visiting 
you, though innocent, with dismal dreams: 
and the god took his seat on the lofty stern, 
in the similitude of Phorbas, and poured 
forth these words from his lips: Palinurus, 



843-864] VIRGIL'S iENEID. BOOK V 183 

son of Iasius, the seas themselves carry for- 
ward the fleet; the gales blow fair and steady, 
the hour for rest is given. Eecline your 
head, and steal your weary eyes from labor. 
Myself awhile will discharge your duty. To 
whom Palinurus, with difficulty lifting up 
his eyes, answers : Do you then bid me be 
a stranger to the aspect of the calm sea and 
its quiet waves? Shall I confide in this 
extraordinary apparition? Why should I 
trust iEneas to the mercy of the fallacious 
winds, after having been so often deceived 
by the treacherous aspect of a serene sky? 
These words he uttered, while fixed and 
clinging he did not part with the rudder, 
and held his eyes directed to the stars ; when, 
lo ! the god shakes over both his temples 
a branch drenched in the dew of Lethe, and 
impregnated with soporific Stygian influ- 
ence; and, while he is struggling against 
sleep, dissolves his swimming eyes. Scarcely 
had unexpected slumber begun to relax his 
limbs, when the god, leaning on him, wdth 
part of the stern broke off, together with the 
helm, plunged him headlong into the limpid 
waves, often calling on his friends in vain: 
taking flight, raised himself on his wings 
aloft into the thin air. Meanwhile, the fleet 
runs its watery course on the plain with 
equal security, and fearless is conducted by 
father Xeptune's promises. And now wafted 
forward, it was ever coming up to the rocks 



184 VIBGIL'S iENEID. BOOK V [865-871 

of the Sirens, once of difficult access, and 
white with the bones of many (at that time 
the hoarse rocks resounded far by the con- 
tinual buffeting of the briny waves) ; when 
father iEneas perceived the fluctuating gal- 
ley to reel, having lost its pilot ; and he him- 
self steered her through the darkened waves, 
deeply affected and wounded in his soul for 
the misfortune of his friend. Ah, Palinurus, 
[says he,] who has too much confided in the 
fair aspect of the skies and sea! naked wilt 
thou lie on unknown sands! 



1-16] virgil's ^neid. book vi 185 



BOOK VI 

In the Sixth Book, iEneas, on reaching the coast of 
Italy, visits, as he had been forewarned, the Sibyl of 
Cumas, who attends him in his descent into the infernal 
regions, and conducts him to his father Anchises, from 
whom he learns the fate that awaited him and his 
descendants the Romans. The book closes with the 
well-known beautiful panegyric on the younger Mar- 
cellus, who was prematurely cut off in the flower of 
his youth. 

Thus he speaks with tears, and gives his 
ship full sail, and at length he reaches the 
Eubcean coast of Cumae. They turn their 
prows out to the sea : then the anchor with 
its tenacious fluke moored the ships, and the 
bending sterns fringe the margin of the 
shore. The youthful crew spring forth with 
ardor on the Hesperian strand: some seek 
for the seeds of fire latent in the veins of 
flint; some plunder the copses, the close re- 
treat of wild beasts, and point out rivers 
newly discovered. But the pious iEneas re- 
pairs to the towers over which Apollo pre- 
sides on high, and to the spacious cave, the 
cell of the Sibyl awful at a distance; into 
whom the prophetic god of Delos breathes 
an enlarged mind and spirit, and discloses 
to her the future. Xow they enter Diana's 
groves, and [Apollo's] golden roofs. Daeda- 
lus, as is famed, flying the realms of Minos, 
adventuring to trust himself to the sky on 
nimble wings, sailed through an untried 



186 VIRGIl/s .ENEID. BOOK VI [17-38 

path to the cold regions of the north, and 
at length gently alighted on the tower of 
Chalcis. Having landed first on those coasts, 
to thee, Phoebus, he consecrated his hoary 
wings, and reared a spacious temple. On the 
gates the death of Androgeos [was repre- 
sented] : then the Athenians, doomed, as an 
atonement (a piteous case!) to pay yearly 
the bodies of their children by sevens : there 
stands the urn whence the lots were drawn. 
In counterview answers the land of Crete 
raised above sea; here Pasiphae's fierce pas- 
sion for the bull is seen, and she [is intro- 
duced] by artifice humbled [to his embrace], 
with the Minotaur, that mingled birth, and 
two-formed offsprings, monuments of execra- 
ble lust. Here [are seen] the labored work 
of the Labyrinth, and the inextricable mazes. 
But Daedalus, pitying the violent love of 
queen [Ariadne], unravels [to Theseus] the 
intricacies and windings of the structure, 
himself guiding his dark mazy steps by a 
thread. You too, Icarus, should have 
borne a considerable part in that great work, 
had [thy father's] grief permitted. Twice 
he essayed to figure the disastrous story in 
gold; twice the parent's hand misgave him. 
And now [the Trojans] would survey the 
whole work in order, were not Achates, who 
had been sent on, just at hand, and with 
him the priestess of Phoebus and Diana, 
Deiphobe, Glaucus' daughter, who thus be- 



39-59] virgil's ^neid. book vi 187 

speaks the king : This hour requires not such 
amusements. At present it will be more 
suitable to sacrifice seven bullocks from a 
herd unyoked, and as many chosen ewes, with 
usual rites. The priestess having thus ad- 
dressed iEneas, (nor are they backward to 
obey her sacred orders,) calls the Trojans 
into the lofty temple. The huge side of an 
Eubcean rock is cut out into a cave, whither 
a hundred broad avenues lead, a hundred 
doors; whence rush forth as many voices, 
the responses of the Sibyl. They had come 
to the threshold, when thus the virgin ex- 
claims: Now is the time to consult your 
fate: the god, lo the god! While thus be- 
fore the gate she speaks, on a sudden her 
looks change, her color comes and goes, her 
locks are disheveled, her breast heaves, and 
her fierce heart swells with enthusiastic rage; 
she appears in a larger form, her voice 
speaking her not a mortal, now that she 
is inspired with the nearer influence of the 
god. Do you delay, Trojan iEneas, she says, 
do you delay with thy vows and prayers? 
[Instantly begin] : for not till then shall 
the ample gates of this awe-stricken mansion 
unfold to the view. And having thus said, 
she ceased. Chill horror ran thrilling cold 
through the bones of the Trojans; and their 
king poured forth these prayers from the 
bottom of his heart: Apollo, who hast ever 
pitied the troubles of Troy, who guidedst 



188 virgil's ^eneid. book vi [60-80 

the Trojan darts and the hand of Paris to 
the body of Achilles; Tinder thy conduct I 
have entered so many seas encompassing 
countries, and the Massylian nations far re- 
mote, and regions vast stretched in front 
by the Syrtes. Now at length we grasp of 
the coast of Italy that flies from us. Let it 
suffice that the fortune of Troy has perse- 
cuted us thus far. Now it is just that you 
too spare the Trojan race, ye gods and god- 
desses, all, to whom Ilium and the high re- 
nown of Dardania were obnoxious. And 
thou too, most holy prophetess, skilled in 
futurity, grant (I ask no realms but what 
are destined to me by fate that the Tro- 
jans, their wandering gods, and the perse- 
cuted deities of Troy, may settle in Latium. 
Then will I appoint to Phoebus and Diana 
a temple of solid marble, and festal days, 
called by the name of Apollo. Thee too a 
spacious sanctuary awaits in our realms: for 
there, benignant one, I will deposit thy 
oracles, and the secret fates declared to my 
nation, and will consecrate chosen men. 
Only commit not thy verses to leaves, lest 
they fly about in disorder, the sport of the 
rapid winds: I beg you yourself will pro- 
nounce them. He ended his address. 

But the prophetess, as yet not suffering 
the influence of Phoebus, raves with wild 
outrage in the cave, struggling if possible 
to disburden her soul of the mighty god : 



81-100] virgil's .eneid. book vi 189 

so much the more he wearies her foaming 
lips, subduing her ferocious heart, and, by 
bearing down her opposition, molds her to 
his will. And now the hundred spacious 
gates of the abode were opened of their own 
accord, and pour forth the responses of the 
prophetess into the open air: thou who 
hast at length overpassed the vast perils of 
the ocean! yet more afflicting trials by land 
await thee. The Trojans shall come to the 
realms of Lavinium, (dismiss that concern 
from thy breast,) but they shall wish too 
they had never come. Wars, horrid wars, I 
foresee, and Tiber foaming with a deluge of 
blood. Nor Simois nor Xanthus, nor 
Grecian camps, shall be wanting to you 
there. Another Achilles is prepared in 
Latium: he too the son of a goddess. Nor 
shall Juno, added to the Trojan, [as their 
scourge], leave them wherever they are: 
while in your distress, which of the Italian 
states, which of its cities, shall you not 
humbly supplicate for aid ? Once more shall 
a consort, hostess, once more shall a foreign 
match, be the cause of so great calamity to 
the Trojans. Yield not under your suffer- 
ings, but encounter them with greater bold- 
ness than your fortune shall permit. What 
you least expect, your first means of deliver- 
ance shall be unfolded from a Grecian city. 
Thus from her holy cell the Cumasan Sibyl 
delivers her mysterious oracles, and, wrap* 



190 virgil's .eneid. book vi [101-121 

ping up truth in obscurity, bellows in her 
cave: Such reins Apollo shakes over her as 
she rages, and deep in her breast he plies the 
goads. 

As soon as her fury ceased, and her raving 
tongue was silent, the hero JEneas begins: 
To me, virgin, no shape of sufferings can 
arise new or unexpected; I have anticipated 
all things, and acted them over beforehand 
in my mind. My sole request is, (since here 
the gate of the infernal king is said to be, 
and the darksome lake [formed] from the 
overflowing Acheron,) that it may be my lot 
to come into the sight and presence of my 
dear father; that you would show the way, 
and open to me the sacred portals. On these 
shoulders I rescued him, through flames and 
a thousand darts pursuing, and saved him 
from the midst of the enemy. He accom- 
panied my path, attended me in all my voy- 
ages, and, though infirm, bore all the terrors 
both of the sea and sky, beyond the power 
and condition of old age. Nay more, he it 
was who earnestly requested and enjoined 
me to come to thee a suppliant, and visit 
thy temple. Benignant one, pity, I pray, 
the son and the sire; for thou canst do all 
things; nor hath Hecate in vain given thee 
charge of the Averian groves. If Orpheus 
had power to recall his consort's ghost, rely- 
ing on his Thracian harp and harmonious 
strings; if Pollux redeemed his brother by 



122-144] virgil's jeneid. book vi 191 

alternate death, and goes and comes this way 
so often: [I hope I also may be allowed to 
go and return:] why need I mention The- 
seus, or great Alcides? I too derive my 
birth from Jove supreme. 

In such terms he prayed, and held the 
altar, when thus the prophetess began to 
speak: Offspring of the gods, thou Trojan 
son of Anchises, easy is the path that leads 
down to hell; grim Pluto's gate stands open 
night and day: but to retrace one's steps, 
and escape to the upper regions, this is a 
work, this is a task. Some few, whom favoring 
Jove loved, or illustrious virtue advanced to 
heaven, the sons of the gods, have effected 
it. Woods cover all the intervening space, 
and Cocytus gliding with his black winding 
flood surrounds it. But if your soul be pos- 
sessed with so strong a passion, so ardent 
a desire, twice to swim the Stygian lake, 
twice to visit gloomy Tartarus, and you will 
needs fondly pursue the desperate enter- 
prise, learn what first is to be done. On a 
tree of deep shade there lies concealed a 
bough, with leaves and limber twigs of gold, 
pronounced sacred to infernal Juno : this 
the whole grove covers, and shades in dark 
valleys enclose. But to none is it given to 
enter the hidden recesses of the earth, till 
from the tree he pluck the bough with its 
golden locks. Fair Proserpine hath ordained 
this to be presented to her as her peculiar 



192 VIKGIL's iENEID. BOOK VI [145-166 

present. When the first is torn off, a second 
of gold soon succeeds; and a twig shoots 
forth leaves of the same metal. Therefore 
search out for it on high with thine eyes, 
and when found, pluck it with the hand in 
a proper manner; for, if the Fates invite 
you, itself will come away willing and easy; 
otherwise you will not be able to master it 
by any strength, or to lop it off by the stub- 
born steel. Besides, the body of your friend 
lies breathless, (whereof you, alas! are not 
aware,) and pollutes the whole fleet with 
death, while you are seeking counsel, and 
hang lingering at my gate. First convey 
him to his place of rest, and bury him in 
the grave. Bring black cattle : let these first 
be the sacrifices of expiation. So at length 
you shall have a view of the Stygian groves, 
realms inaccessible to the living. She said, 
and closing her lips, was silent. 

iEneas, his eyes fixed on the ground 
with sorrowing looks, takes his way, leaving 
the cave, and muses the dark event in his 
mind; whom faithful Achates accompanies, 
and steps on with equal concern. Many 
doubts they started between them in the 
variety of their conversation; who was the 
lifeless friend designed by the prophetess, 
what corpse was to be interred. And as 
they came, they saw Misenus on the dry 
beach, slain by an unworthy death ; Misenus, 
son of iBolus, whom none excelled in rous- 



167-188] virgil's ^neid. book vi 193 

ing warriors by the brazen trump, and kin- 
dling the rage of war by its blast. He had 
been the companion of great Hector, and 
about Hector he fought, distinguished both 
for the clarion and spear. After victorious 
Achilles had bereaved Hector of life, the 
valiant hero associated with Dardanian 
iEneas, following no inferior chief. But at 
that time, while madly presumptuous he 
makes the seas resound with his hollow 
trump, and with bold notes challenges the 
gods to a trial of skill, Triton, jealous, (if 
the story be worthy of credit,) having in- 
veigled him between two rocks, had over- 
whelmed him in the foaming billows. There- 
fore all murmured their lamentations around 
him with loud noise, especially pious 
^Eneas; then forthwith weeping they set 
about the Sibyl's orders, and are emulous to 
heap up the altar of the funeral pile with 
trees, and raise it towards heaven. They re- 
pair to an ancient wood, the deep lairs of the 
savage kind: down drop the firs: the holm 
crashes, felled by the axes; and the ashen 
logs and yielding oak are cleft by wedges; 
down from the mountains they roll the huge 
wild ashes, iEneas, too, chief amongst these 
labors, animates his followers, and is 
equipped with like implements. 

Meanwhile he thus ruminates in his dis- 
tressed breast, surveying the spacious wood, 
and thus prays aloud: if that golden 



194 virgil's ^neid. book vi [189-209 

branch on the tree now present itself to our 
view amid this ample forest; since, Misenus, 
all that the prophetess declared of thee, is 
true, alas ! too true. Scarcely had he spoken 
these words, when it chanced that two 
pigeons, in their airy flight, came directly 
into the hero's view, and alighted on the 
verdant ground. Then the mighty hero 
knows his mother's birds, and rejoicing 
prays : Oh ! be the guides of the way, if any 
way there is, and steer your course through 
the air into the groves, where the precious 
branch overshades the fertile soil. And thou, 
my goddess-mother, oh be not wanting to 
me in this my perplexity! Thus having 
said, he paused, observing what indications 
they offer, whither they bend their way. 
They, feeding and flying by turns, advanced 
before only as far as the eyes of the fol- 
lowers could trace them with their ken. 
Then, having come to the mouth of noisome 
Avernus, they mount up swiftly, and, glid- 
ing through the clear air, both alight on 
the wished-for place, on that tree from 
whence the gleam of the gold, of different 
hue, shone through the boughs. As in the 
woods the mistletoe, which springs not from 
the tree from whence it grows, is wont to 
bloom with new leaves in the cold of win- 
ter, and to twine around the tapering trunk 
with its yellow offspring; such was the ap- 
pearance of the gold-sprouting forth on the 



210-232] virgil's .eneid. book vi 195 

shady holm: in like manner the metallic 
leaf tinkled with the gentle gale. Forthwith 
iEneas grasps, and eagerly tears off the lin- 
gering branch, and bears it to the grotto of 
the prophetic Sibyl. 

Meanwhile the Trojans were no less assid- 
uously employed in mourning Misenus on 
the shore, and in paying the last duties to 
his senseless ashes. First they rear a vast 
pile unctuous with pines and split oak, whose 
sides they interweave with black boughs, 
and place in the front deadly cypresses, and 
deck it above with glittering arms. Some 
get ready warm water, and caldrons bubbling 
from the flames; and wash and anoint his 
cold limbs. The groan is raised : they then 
lay the bewailed body on a couch, and throw 
over it the purple robes, his wonted apparel. 
Others bore up the cumbrous bier, a mourn- 
ful office; and with their faces turned away, 
after the manner of their ancestors, under 
it they held the torch. Amassed together, 
blaze offerings of incense, viands, whole gob- 
lets of oil poured [on the pile]. After the 
ashes had sunk down, and the flames re- 
lented, they drenched the relics and soaking 
embers in wine; and Chorinseus enclosed the 
collected bones in a brazen urn. Thrice too 
he made the circuit of the company with 
holy water, sprinkling them with the light 
spray, and a branch of the prolific olive; 
and he purified them, and pronounced the 



196 virgil's ^neid. book vi [233-255 

last farewell. But pious iEneas erects a 
spacious tomb for the hero, with his arms 
upon it, and an oar and trumpet, beneath 
a lofty mountain, which now from him is 
called Misenus, and retains a name eternal 
through ages. 

This done, he speedily executes the Sibyl's 
injunctions. There was a cave profound and 
hideous with yawning mouth, stony, fenced 
by a black lake, and the gloom of woods; 
over which none of the flying kind were able 
to wing their way unhurt; such exhalations, 
issuing from its grim jaws, ascended to the 
vaulted skies: [for which reason the Greeks 
called the place by the name of Aornus.] 
Here first the priestess places four bullocks 
with backs of swarthy hue, and pours wine 
on their foreheads, and cropping the topmost 
hairs between the horns, lays them on the 
sacred flames as the first offerings, by voice 
invoking Hecate whose power extends both 
to heaven and hell. Others employ the 
knives, and receive the tepid blood in bowls. 
iEneas himself smites with his sword a ewe- 
lamb of sable fleece in honor of the mother 
of the Furies, and her great sister, and in 
honor of thee Proserpina, a barren heifer. 
Then he sets about the nocturnal sacrifices 
to the Stygian king, and lays on the flames 
the solid carcasses of bulls, pouring fat oil 
on the broiling entrails. Lo now, at the 
early beams and rising of the sun, the ground 



256-278] virgil's .eneid. book vi 197 

beneath their feet began to rumble, the 
wooded heights to quake, and dogs were 
seen to howl through the shade of the woods, 
at the approach of the goddess. Hence, far 
hence, ye profane, exclaims the prophetess, 
and begone from all the grove : and do you, 
iEneas, boldly march forward, and snatch 
your sword from its sheath : now is the time 
for fortitude, now for firmness of resolution. 
This said, she raving plunged into the open 
cave. He, with intrepid steps, keeps close 
by his guide as she leads the way. 

Ye gods, to whom the empire of ghosts 
belong, and ye silent shades, and Chaos, and 
Phlegethon, places where silence reigns 
around in night! permit me to utter the 
secrets I have heard; may I by your divine 
will disclose things buried in deep earth 
and darkness. They moved along amid the 
gloom under the solitary night through the 
shade, and through the desolate halls and 
empty realms of Pluto; such as is a journey 
in woods beneath the unsteady moon, under 
a faint, glimmering light, when Jupiter 
hath wrapped the heavens in shade and sable 
night hath stripped objects of color. 

Before the vestibule itself, and in the first 
jaws of hell, Grief and vengeful Cares have 
placed their couches, and pale Diseases dwell, 
and disconsolate Old Age, and Fear, and 
the evil counsellor Famine, and vile de- 
formed Indigence, forms ghastly to the 



198 VIRGIL'S ^ENEID. BOOK VI [279-300 

sight ! and Death, and Toil ; then Sleep, akin 
to Death, and criminal Joys of the mind; 
and in the opposite threshold murderous 
War, and the iron bed-chambers of the 
Furies, and frantic Discord, having her 
viperous locks bound with bloody fillets. 

In the midst a gloomy elm displays its 
boughs and aged arms, which seat vain 
Dreams are commonly said to haunt, and 
under every leaf they dwell. Many mon- 
strous savages, moreover, of various forms, 
stable in the gates, the Centaurs and double- 
formed Scyllas, and Briareus with his hun- 
dred hands, and the enormous snake of 
Lerna hissing dreadful, and Chimaera armed 
with flames ; Gorgons, Harpies, and the form 
of Geryon's three-bodied ghost. Here 
iEneas, disconcerted with sudden fear, grasps 
his sword, and presents the naked point to 
each approaching shade: and had not his 
skillful guide put him in mind that they 
were airy unbodied phantoms, fluttering 
about under an empty form, he had rushed 
in, and with his sword struck at the ghosts 
in vain. 

Hence is a path, which leads to the floods 
of Tartarean Acheron: here a gulf turbid 
and impure boils up with mire and vast 
whirlpools, and disgorges all its sand into 
Cocytus. A grim ferryman guards these 
floods and rivers, Charon, of frightful sloven- 
liness; on whose chin a load of gray hair 



301-323] virgil's ^neid. book vi 199 

neglected lies; his eyes are flame: his vest- 
ments hang from his shoulders by a knot, 
with filth overgrown. Himself thrusts on 
the barge with a pole, and tends the sails, 
and wafts over the bodies in his iron-col- 
ored boat, now in years: but the god is of 
fresh and green old age. Hither the whole 
tribe in swarms came pouring to the banks, 
matrons and men, the souls of magnanimous 
heroes who had gone through life, boys and 
unmarried maids, and the young men who 
had been stretched on the funeral pile be- 
fore the eyes of their parents; as numerous 
as withered leaves fall in the woods with 
the first cold of autumn, or as numerous 
as birds flock to land from deep ocean, when 
the chilling year drives them beyond sea, 
and sends them to sunny climes. They stood 
praying to cross the flood the first, and were 
stretching forth their hands with fond desire 
to gain the further bank: but the sullen 
boatman admits sometimes these, sometimes 
those : whilst others, to a great distance re- 
moved, he debars from the banks. 

iEneas (for he was amazed and moved 
with the tumult) thus speaks: virgin, 
say what means that flocking to the river? 
what do the ghosts desire? or by what dis- 
tinction must these recede from the banks, 
those sweep with oars the livid flood? To 
him the aged priestess thus briefly replied: 
Son of Anchises, undoubted offspring of the 



200 virgil's ^eneid. book vi [324-346 

gods, you see the deep pools of Cocytus, and 
the Stygian lake, by whose divinity the gods 
dread to swear and violate [their oath]. All 
that crowd, which you see, consists of naked 
and unburied persons: that ferryman is 
Charon: these, whom the stream carries, are 
interred; for it is not permitted to trans- 
port them over the horrid banks, and hoarse 
waves, before their bones are quietly lodged 
in a final abode. They wander a hundred 
years, and flutter about these shores: then 
at length admitted, they visit the wished-for 
lakes. 

The offspring of Anchises paused and re- 
pressed his steps, deeply musing, and pitying 
from his soul their unkind lot. There he 
espies Leucaspis, and Orontes, the com- 
mander of the Lycian fleet, mournful, and 
bereaved of the honors of the dead: whom, 
as they sailed from Troy, over the stormy 
seas, the south wind sunk together, whelm- 
ing both ship and crew in the waves. Lo! 
the pilot Palinurus slowly advanced, who 
lately in his Libyan voyage, while he was 
observing the stars, had fallen from the stern, 
plunged in the midst of the waves. When 
with difficulty, by reason of the thick shade, 
JEneas knew him in this mournful mood, 
he thus first accosts him : What god, Pal- 
inurus, snatched you from us, and over- 
whelmed you in the middle of the ocean? 
Come tell me. For Apollo, whom I never 



347-366] virgil's ^eneid. book vi 201 

before found false, in this one response de- 
ceived by mind, declaring that you should 
be safe on the sea, and arrive at the Auso- 
nian coasts: Is this the amount of his 
plighted faith? 

But he [answers] : Neither the oracle of 
Phoebus beguiled you, prince of the line of 
Anchises, nor a god plunged me in the sea; 
for, falling headlong, I drew along with me 
the helm, which I chanced with great vio- 
lence to tear away, as I clung to it, and 
steered our course, being appointed pilot. By 
the rough seas I swear, that I was not so 
seriously apprehensive for myself, as that 
thy ship, despoiled of her rudder, dispos- 
sessed of her pilot, might sink while such 
high billows were rising. The south wind 
drove me violently on the water over the 
spacious sea, three wintry nights: on the 
fourth day I descried Italy from the high 
ridge of a wave [whereon I was] raised 
aloft. I was swimming gradually towards 
land, and should have been out of danger, 
had not the cruel people fallen upon me with 
the sword, (encumbered with my wet gar- 
ment, and grasped with crooked hands the 
rugged tops of a mountain), and ignorantly 
taking me for a rich prey. ISTow the waves 
possess me, and the winds toss me about 
the shore. But by the pleasant light of 
heaven, and by the vital air, by him who 
gave thee birth, by the hope of rising lulus, 



202 virgil's ^eneid. book vi [367-387 

I thee implore, invincible one, release me 
from these woes: either throw on me some 
earth, (for thou canst do so,) and seek out 
the Veline port; or, if there be any means, 
if thy goddess mother point out any, (for 
thou dost not, I presume, without the will 
of the gods, attempt to cross such mighty 
rivers and the Stygian lake,) lend your hand 
to an unhappy wretch, and bear me with you 
over the waves, that in death at least I may 
rest in peaceful seats. 

Thus he spoke, when thus the prophetess 
began: Whence, Palinurus, rises in thee 
this so impious desire ? Shall you unburied 
behold the Stygian floods, and the grim 
river of the Furies, or reach the bank against 
the command [of heaven] ? Cease to hope 
that the decrees of the gods are to be altered 
by prayers; but mindful take these predic- 
tions as the solace of your hard fate. For 
the neighboring people, compelled by por- 
tentous plagues from heaven, shall through 
their several cities far and wide offer atone- 
ment to thy ashes, erect a tomb, and stated 
anniversary offerings on that tomb present; 
and the place shall forever retain the name 
of Palinurus. By these words his cares 
were removed, and grief was for a time ban- 
ished from his disconsolate heart: he re- 
joices in the land that is to bear his name. 

They therefore accomplish their journey 
begun, and approach the river: whom wheij 



388-408] virgil's ^neid. book vi 203 

the boatman soon from the Stygian wave 
beheld advancing through the silent grove, 
and stepping forward to the bank, thus he 
first accosts them in words, and chides them 
unprovoked: Whoever thou mayest be, who 
art now advancing armed to our rivers, say 
quick for what end thou comest; and from 
that very spot repress thy step. This is the 
region of Ghosts, of Sleep, and drowsy 
Night: to waft over the bodies of the living 
in my Stygian boat is not permitted. Nor 
indeed was it joy to me that I received 
Alcides on the lake when he came, or The- 
seus and Pirithous, though they were the 
offspring of the gods, and invincible in 
might. One with his hand put the keeper 
of Tartarus in chains, and dragged him 
trembling from the throne of our king him- 
self; the others attempted to carry off our 
queen from Pluto's bed-chamber. 

In answer to which, the Amphrysian proph- 
etess spoke: No such plots are here, be not 
disturbed, nor do these weapons bring vio- 
lence: the huge porter may bay in his den 
forever, terrifying the incorporeal shades: 
chaste Proserpine may remain in her uncle's 
palace. Trojan iEneas, illustrious for piety 
and arms, descends to the deep shades of 
Erebus to his sire. If the image of such 
piety makes no impression on you, own a 
regard at least to this branch (she shows the 
branch that was concealed under her robe). 



204 VIRGIL'S ^ENEID. BOOK VI [409-429 

Then his heart from swelling rage is stilled : 
nor passed more words than these. He with 
wonder gazing on the hallowed present of 
the fatal branch, beheld after a long season, 
turns towards them his lead-colored barge, 
and approaches the bank. Thence he dis- 
lodges the other souls that sat on the long 
benches, and clears the hatches; at the same 
time, receives into the hold the mighty 
iEneas. The boat of sewn hide groaned 
under the weight, and, being leaky, took in 
much water from the lake. At length he 
lands the hero and the prophetess safe on the 
other side of the river, on the foul slimy 
strand and sea-green weed. Huge Cerberus 
makes these realms to resound with barking 
from his triple jaws, stretched at his enor- 
mous length in a den that fronts the gate. 
To whom the prophetess, seeing his neck 
now bristle with horrid snakes, flings a so- 
porific cake of honey and medicated grain. 
He, in the mad rage of hunger, opening his 
three mouths, snatches the offered morsel, 
and, spread on the ground, relaxes his mon- 
strous limbs, and is extended at vast length 
over all the cave. iEneas, now that the 
keeper [of hell] is buried [in sleep], seizes 
the passage, and swift overpasses the bank 
of that flood whence there is no return. 

Forthwith are heard voices, loud wailings, 
and weeping ghosts of infants, in the first 
opening of the ga.te ; whom, bereaved of sweet 



430-449] virgil's ^eneid. book vi 205 

life out of the course of nature, and snatched 
from the breast, a black day cut off, and 
buried in an untimely grave. 

Next to those, are such as have been con- 
demned to death by false accusations. Nor 
yet were those seats assigned them without 
a trial, without a judge. Minos, as inquisitor, 
shakes the urn; he convokes the council of 
the silent, and examines their lives and 
crimes. 

The next places in order those mournful 
ones possess, who, though free from crime, 
procured death to themselves with their own 
hands, and, sick of the light, threw away 
their lives. How gladly would they now 
endure poverty and painful toils in the upper 
regions ! Fate opposes, and the hateful lake 
imprisons them with its dreary waves, and 
Styx, nine times rolling between, confines 
them. 

Not far from this part, extended on every 
side, are shown the fields of mourning: so 
they call them by name. Here by-paths re- 
mote conceal, and myrtle-groves cover those 
around, whom unrelenting love, with his 
cruel venom, consumed away. Their cares 
leave them not in death itself. In these 
places he sees Phsedra and Procris, and dis- 
consolate Eriphyle pointing to the wounds 
she had received from her cruel son ; Evadne 
also, and Pasiphse: these Laodamia accom- 
panies, and Caeneus, once a youth, now a 



206 virgil's ^neid. book vi [450-470 

woman, and again by fate transformed into 
his pristine shape. Amongst whom Phoeni- 
cian Dido, fresh from her wound, was wan- 
dering in a spacious wood; whom as soon 
as the Trojan hero approached, and dis- 
covered faintly arough the shades, (in like 
manner as one sees, or thinks he sees, the 
moon rising through the clouds in the be- 
ginning of her monthly course,) he dropped 
tears, and addressed her in love's sweet ac- 
cents: Hapless Dido, was it then a true 
report I had of your being dead, and that 
you had finished your own destiny by the 
sword ? Was I, alas ! the cause of your 
death? I swear by the stars, by the powers 
above, and by whatever faith may be under 
the deep earth, that against my will, queen, 
I departed from thy coast. But the man- 
dates of the gods, which now compel me to 
travel through these shades, through noisome 
dreary regions and deep night, drove me 
from you by their authority; nor could I 
believe that I should bring upon you such 
deep anguish by my departure. Stay your 
steps, and withdraw not thyself from my 
sight. Whom dost thou fly? This is the 
last time fate allows me to address you. 
With these words -ZEneas thought to soothe 
her soul inflamed, and eyeing him with stern 
regard, and provoked his tears to flow. She, 
turned away, kept her eyes fixed on the 
ground; nor alters her looks more, in con- 



471-492] virgil's ^NEID. BOOK VI 207 

sequence of the conversation he had begun, 
than if she were fixed immovable like a stub- 
born flint or rock of Parian marble. At 
length, she abruptly retired, and in detes- 
tation fled into a shady grove, where 
Sichaeus her first lord answers her with 
[amorous] cares, and returns her love for 
love. .ZEneas, nevertheless, in commotion for 
her disastrous fate, with weeping eyes, pur- 
sues her far, and pities her as she goes. 

Hence he holds on this destined way ; and 
now they had reached the last fields, which 
by themselves apart renowned warriors fre- 
quent. Here Tydeus appears to him, here 
Parthenopceus illustrious in arms, and the 
ghost of pale Adrastus. Here [appear] those 
Trojans who had died in the field of battle, 
much lamented in the upper world: whom 
when he beheld all together in a numer- 
ous body, he inwardly groaned. Glaucus, 
Medon, Thersilochus, the three sons of An- 
tenor, and Polybastes devoted to Ceres, and 
Idaeus still handling his chariot, still his 
armor. The ghosts in crowns around him 
stand on the right and left : nor are they 
satisfied with seeing him once; they wish to 
detain him long, to come into close confer- 
ence with him, and learn the reasons of his 
visit. But as soon as the Grecian chiefs and 
Agamemnon's battalions saw the hero, and 
his arms gleaming through the shades, they 
quaked with dire dismay; some turned their 



208 virgil's ^neid. book vi [493-513 

backs, as when they fled once to their ships; 
some raised their slender voices; the scream 
begun dies in their gasping throats. 

And here he espies Deiphobus, the son 
of Priam, mangled in every limb, his face 
and both his hands cruelly torn, his tem- 
ples bereft of the ears cropped off, and 
his nostrils slit with a hideously deformed 
wound. Thus he hardly knew him quaking 
for agitation, and seeking to hide the marks 
of his dreadful punishment*, and he first 
accosts him with well-known accents: Dei- 
phobus, great in arms, sprung from Teucer's 
noble blood, who could choose to inflict such 
cruelties? Or who was allowed to exercise 
such power over you? To me, in that last 
night, a report was brought that you, tired 
with the vast slaughter of the Greeks, had 
fallen at last on a heap of mingled carcasses. 
Then, with my own hands, I raised to you 
an empty tomb on the Rhcetean shore, and 
thrice with loud voice I invoked your manes. 
Your name and arms possess the place. Your 
body, my friend, I could not find, or, at my 
departure, deposit in thy native land. And 
upon this the son of Priam said: Nothing, 
my friend, has been omitted by you; you 
have discharged every duty to Deiphobus, 
and to the shadow of a corpse. But my own 
fate, and the cursed wickedness of" Helen, 
plunged me in these woes: she hath left me 
these monuments [of her love]. For how we 



514-534] virgil's ^eneid. book vi 209 

passed that last night amidst ill-grounded 
joys you know, and must remember but too 
well, when the fatal horse came bounding 
over our lofty walls, and pregnant brought 
armed infantry in its womb. She, pretend- 
ing a dance, led her train of Phrygian ma- 
trons yelling around the orgies: herself in 
the midst held a large flaming torch, and 
called to the Greeks from the lofty tower. 
I, being at that time oppressed with care, 
and overpowered with sleep, was lodged in 
my unfortunate bed-chamber: rest, balmy, 
profound, and the perfect image of a calm, 
peaceful death, pressed me as I lay. Mean- 
while my incomparable spouse removes all 
arms from my palace, and had withdrawn 
my trusty sword from my head : she calls 
Menelaus into the palace, and throws open 
the gates; hoping, no doubt, that would be 
a mighty favor to her amorous husband, and 
that thus the infamy of her former wicked 
deeds might be extinguished. In short, they 
burst into my chamber: that traitor of the 
race of iEolus, the promoter of villainy, is 
joined in company with them. Ye gods, re- 
quite these cruelties to the Greeks, if I sup- 
plicate vengeance with pious lips ! But come 
now, in thy turn, say what adventure hath 
brought thee hither alive. Dost thou come 
driven by the casualties of the main, or by 
the direction of the gods? or what fortune 



210 virgil's ^eneid. book vi [535-555 

compels thee to visit these dreary mansions, 
troubled regions, where the sun never shines ? 

In this conversation the sun in his rosy 
chariot had now passed the meridian in his 
ethereal course; and they perhaps would in 
this manner have passed the whole time as- 
signed them; but the Sibyl, his companion, 
put him in mind, and thus briefly spoke: 
iEneas, the night comes on apace, while we 
waste the hours in lamentations. This is 
the place where the path divides itself in 
two: the right is what leads beneath great 
Pluto's walls; by this our way to Elysium 
lies : but the left carries on the punishments 
of the wicked, and conveys to cursed Tar- 
tarus. On the other hand, Deiphobus [said] : 
Be not incensed, great priestess; I shall be 
gone; I will fill up the number [of the 
ghosts] and be rendered back to darkness. 
Go, go, thou glory of our nation; mayest 
thou find fates more kind ! This only he 
spoke, and at the word turned his steps. 

iEneas on a sudden looks back, and under 
a rock on the left sees vast prisons enclosed 
with a triple wall, which Tartarean Phlege- 
thon's rapid flood environs with torrents of 
flame, and whirls roaring rocks along. Front- 
ing is a huge gate, with columns of solid 
adamant, that no strength of men, nor the 
gods themselves, can with steel demolish. An 
iron tower rises aloft; and there wakeful 
Tisiphone, with her bloody robe tucked up 



556-578] vikgil's ^eneid. book vi 211 

around her, sits to watch the vestibule both 
night and day. Hence groans are heard; 
the cruel lashes resound; the grating too of 
iron, and clank of dragging chains. iEneas 
stopped short, and starting, listened to the 
din. What scenes of guilt are these? 
virgin, say; or with what pains are they 
chastised? what hideous yelling [ascends] 
to the skies ! Then thus the prophetess 
began : Eenowned leader of the Trojans, no 
holy person is allowed to tread the accursed 
threshold : but Hecate, when she set me over 
the groves of Avernus, herself taught me the 
punishments appointed by the gods, and led 
me through every part. Cretan Khadaman- 
thus possesses these most ruthless realms; 
examines and punishes frauds; and forces 
every one to confess what crimes committed 
in the upper world he had left [unatoned] 
till the late hour of death, hugging himself 
in secret crime of no avail. Forthwith 
avenging Tisiphone, armed with her whip, 
scourges the guilty with cruel insult, and in 
her left hand shaking over them her grim 
snakes, calls the fierce troops of her sister 
Furies. 

Then at length the accursed gates, grating 
on their dreadful-sounding hinges, are 
thrown open. See you what kind of watch 
sits on the entry? what figure guards the 
gate? An overgrown Hydra, more fell [than 
any Fury], with fifty black gaping mouths, 



212 virgil's ^neid. book vi [579-600 

has her seat within. Then Tartarus itself 
sinks deep down, and extends towards the 
shades twice as far as is the prospect up- 
wards to the ethereal throne of heaven. Here 
Earth's ancient progeny, the Titanian youth, 
hurled down with thunderbolts, welter in 
the profound abyss. Here too I saw the two 
sons of Aloeus, gigantic bodies, w T ho at- 
tempted with their might to overturn the 
spacious heavens, and thrust down Jove from 
his exalted kingdom. Salmoneus likewise I 
beheld suffering severe punishment, for hav- 
ing imitated Jove's flaming bolts, and the 
sounds of heaven. He, drawn in his chariot 
by four horses, and brandishing a torch, rode 
triumphant among the nations of Greece, and 
in the midst of the city Elis, and claimed to 
himself the honor of the gods : infatuate ! 
who, with brazen car, and the prancing of 
his horn-hoofed steeds, would needs counter- 
feit the storms and inimitable thunder. But 
the almighty Sire amidst the thick clouds 
threw a bolt, (not firebrands he, nor smoky 
light from torches,) and hurled him down 
headlong in a vast whirlwind. Here too you 
might have seen Tityus, the foster-child of 
all-bearing Earth: whose body is extended 
over nine whole acres; and a huge vulture, 
with her hooked beak, pecking at his im- 
mortal liver, and his bowels, the fruitful 
source of punishment, both searches them 
for her banquet, and dwells in the deep re- 



601-621] VIRGIL'S jENEID. BOOK VI 213 

cesses of his breast; nor is any respite given 
to his fibres still springing up afresh. Why 
should I mention the Lapithae, Ixion, and 
Pirithous, over whom hangs a black flinty 
rock, every moment threatening to tumble 
down, and seeming to be actually falling? 
Golden pillars [supporting] lofty genial 
couches shine, and full in their view are 
banquets furnished out with regal magnifi- 
cence; the chief of the Furies sits by them, 
and debars them from touching the pro- 
visions with their hands ; and starts up, lift- 
ing her torch on high, and thunders over 
them with her voice. Here are those who, 
while life remained, had been at enmity with 
their brothers, had beaten a parent, or 
wrought deceit against a client ; or who alone 
brooded over their acquired wealth, nor as- 
signed a portion to their own; which class 
is the most numerous: those too who were 
slain for adultery, who joined in impious 
wars, and did not scruple to violate the faith 
they had plighted to their masters : shut up, 
they await their punishment. But what kind 
of punishment seek not to be informed, in 
what shape [of misery], or in what state they 
are involved. Some roll a huge stone, and 
hang fast bound to the spokes of wheels. 
There sits, and to eternity shall sit, the 
unhappy Theseus: and Phlegyas most 
wretched is a monitor to all, and with loud 
voice proclaims through the shades : "Warned 



214 virgil's ^neid. book vi [622-643 

[by example], learn righteousness, and not 
to contemn the gods." One sold his country 
for gold, and imposed on it a domineering 
tyrant; made and unmade laws for money. 
Another invaded his daughter's bed, and an 
unlawful wedlock: all of them dared some 
heinous crime, and accomplished what they 
dared. Had I a hundred tongues, and a 
hundred mouths, a voice of iron, I could not 
comprehend all the species of their crimes, 
nor enumerate the names of all their punish- 
ments. 

When the aged priestess of Phoebus had 
uttered these words, she adds, But come now, 
set forward, and finish the task you have 
undertaken ; let us haste on : I see the walls 
[of Pluto], wrought in the forges of the 
Cyclops, and the gates with their arch full 
in our view, where our instructions enjoin 
us to deposit this our offering. She said; 
and with equal pace advancing through the 
gloomy path, they speedily traverse the in- 
termediate space, and approach the gates. 
iEneas springs forward to the entry, 
sprinkles his body with fresh water, and fixes 
the bough in the fronting portal. 

Having finished these rites, and performed 
the offering to the goddess, they came at 
length to the regions of joy, delightful green 
retreats, and blessed abodes in groves, where 
happiness abounds. A freer and purer sky 
here clothes the fields with sheeny light : they 



644-664] virgil's .eneid. book vi 215 

know their own sun, their own stars. Some 
exercise their limbs on the grassy green, in 
sports contend, and wrestle on the tawny 
; and : some strike the ground with their feet 
in the dance, and sing hymns. [Orpheus,] 
too, the Thracian priest, in his long robe, 
replies in melodious numbers to the seven 
distinguished notes; and now strikes the 
same with his fingers, now with his ivory 
quill. Here may be seen Teucer's ancient 
race, a most illustrious line, magnanimous 
heroes, born in happier times, Ilus, Assa- 
racus, and Darnadus, the founder of Troy. 
From afar, [iEneas] views with wonder the 
arms and empty chariots of the chiefs. Their 
spears stand fixed in the ground, and up and 
down their horses feed at large through the 
plain. The same fondness they had when 
alive for chariots and arms, the same con- 
cern for training up shining steeds, follow 
them with deposited beneath the earth. 

Lo! he beholds others on the right and 
left feasting upon the grass, and singing the 
joyful paean to Apollo in concert, amidst a 
fragrant grove of laurel; whence from on 
high the river Eridanus rolls in copious 
streams through the wood. Here is a band 
of those who sustained wounds in fighting 
for their country; priests who preserved 
themselves pure and holy, while life re- 
mained; pious poets, who sung in strains 
worthy of Apollo; those who improved life 



216 virgil's .eneid. book vi [665-686 

by the invention of arts, and who by their 
worthy deeds made others remember them: 
all these have their temples crowned with a 
snow-white fillet. Whom, gathered around, 
the Sibyl thus addressed, Musaeus chiefly; 
for a numerous crowd had him in their 
center, and looked up with reverence to him 
raised above them by the height of his 
shoulders: Say, blest souls, and thou, best 
of poets, what region, what place contains 
Anchises ? on his account we have come, and. 
crossed the great rivers of hell. And thus 
the hero briefly returned her an answer : None 
of us have a fixed abode; in shady groves 
we dwell, or lie on couches all along the 
banks, and on meadows fresh with rivulets: 
but do you, if so your heart's inclination 
leads, overpass this eminence, and I will set 
you in the easy path. He said, and ad- 
vanced his steps on before, and shows them 
from a rising ground the shining plains; 
then they descend from the summit of the 
mountain. But father Anchises, deep in a 
verdant dale, was surveying with studious 
cares the souls there enclosed, who were to 
revisit the light above; and happened to be 
reviewing the whole number of his race, his 
dear descendants, their fates and fortunes, 
their manners and achievements. As soon 
as he beheld iEneas advancing towards him 
across the meads, he joyfully stretched out 
both his hands, and tears poured down his 



687-707] VIRGIL'S iENEID. BOOK VI 217 

cheeks, and these words dropped from his 
mouth: Are you come at length, and has 
that piety, experienced by your sire, sur- 
mounted the arduous journey? Am I per- 
mitted, my son, to see thy face, to hear and 
return the well-known accents? So indeed 
I concluded in my mind, and reckoned it 
would happen, computing the time : nor have 
my anxious hopes deceived me. Over what 
lands, son, and over what immense seas, 
have you, I hear, been tossed ! with what 
dangers harassed! how I dreaded lest you 
had sustained harm from Libya's realms ! 
But he [said], Your ghost, your sorrowing 
ghost, my sire, oftentimes appearing, com- 
pelled me to set forward to these thresholds. 
My fleet rides in the Tyrrhene Sea. Permit 
me, father, to join my right hand [with 
thine] ; and withdraw not thyself from my 
embrace. So saying, he at the same time 
be'dewed his cheeks with a flood of tears. 
There thrice he attempted to throw his arms 
around his neck ; thrice the phantom, grasped 
in vain, escaped his hold, like the fleet gales, 
or resembling most a fugitive dream. 

Meanwhile iEneas sees in the retired vale, 
a grove situate by itself, shrubs rustling in 
the woods, and the river Lethe which glides 
by those peaceful dwellings. Around this un- 
numbered tribes and nations of ghosts were 
fluttering; as in meadows on a serene sum- 
mer's day, when the bees sit on the various 



218 virgil's ^neid. book vi [708-729 

blossoms, and swarm around the snow-white 
lilies, all the plain buzzes with their hum- 
ming noise. iEneas, confounded, shudders 
at the unexpected sight, and asks the causes, 
what are those rivers in the distance, or 
what ghosts have in such crowds filled the 
banks? Then father Anchises [said], Those 
souls, for whom other bodies are destined 
by fate, at the streams of Lethe's flood quaff 
care-expelling draughts and lasting oblivion. 
Long indeed have I wished to give you a 
detail of these, and to point them out before 
you, and enumerate this my future race, that 
you may rejoice the more with me in the 
discovery of Italy. father, is it to be 
imagined that any souls of an exalted nature 
will go hence to the world above, and enter 
again into inactive bodies. What direful 
love of the light possesses the miserable 
beings? I, indeed, replies Anchises, will in- 
form you, my son, nor hold you longer in 
suspence: and thus he unfolds each par- 
ticular in order. 

In the first place, the spirit within nour- 
ishes the heavens, the earth, and watery 
plains, the moon's enlightened orb, and the 
Titanian stars; and the mind, diffused 
through all the members, actuates the whole 
frame, and mingles with the vast body [of 
the universe]. Thence the race of men and 
beasts, the vital principles of the flying kind, 
and the monsters which the ocean breeds 



730-752] VIRGIL'S ^ENEID. BOOK VI 219 

under its smooth plain. These principles 
have the active force of fire, and are of a 
heavenly original, so far as they are not 
clogged by noxious bodies, blunted by earth- 
born limbs and dying members. Hence they 
fear and desire, grieve and rejoice; and, 
shut up in darkness and a gloomy prison, 
lose sight of their native skies. Even when 
with the last beams of light their life is gone, 
yet not every ill, nor all corporeal stains, 
are quite removed from the unhappy beings; 
and it is absolutely necessary that many im- 
perfections which have long been joined to 
the soul, should be in marvelous ways in- 
creased and riveted therein. Therefore are 
they afflicted with punishments, and pay the 
penalties of their former ills. Some, hung 
on high, are spread out to the empty winds ; 
in others the guilt not done away is washed 
out in a vast watery abyss, or burned away 
in fire. We each endure his own manes, 
thence are we conveyed along the spacious 
Elysium, and we, the happy few, possess the 
fields of bliss; till length of time, after the 
fixed period is elapsed, hath done away 
the inherent stain, and hath left the pure 
celestial reason, and the fiery energy of the 
simple spirit. All these, after they have 
rolled away a thousand years, are summoned 
forth by the god in a great body to the river 
Lethe; to the intent that, losing memory 
[of the past], they may revisit the vaulted 



220 virgil's ^neid. book vi [753-774 

realms above, and again become willing to 
return into bodies. Anchises thus spoke, 
and leads his son, together with the Sibyl, 
into the midst of the assembly and noisy 
throng; thence chooses a rising ground, 
whence he may survey them all as they 
stand opposite to him in a long row, and 
discern their looks as they approach. 

Now come, I will explain to you what 
glory shall henceforth attend the Trojan race, 
what descendants await them of the Italian 
nation, distinguished souls, and who shall 
succeed to our name; yourself too I will in- 
struct in your particular fate. See you that 
youth who leans on his pointless spear ? He 
by destiny holds a station nearest to the 
light; he shall ascend to the upper world 
the first [of your race] who shall have a 
mixture of Italian blood in his veins, Syl- 
vius, an Alban name, your last issue ; whom 
late your consort Lavinia shall in the woods 
bring forth to you in your advanced age, 
himself a king, and the father of kings; in 
whom our line shall reign over Alba Longa. 
The next is Procas the glory of the Trojan 
nation ; then Capys and Numitor follow, and 
iEneas Sylvius, who shall represent thee in 
name, equally distinguished for piety and 
arms, if ever he receive the crown of Alba. 
See what youths are these, what manly force 
they show! and bear their temples shaded 
with civic oak ; these to thy honor shall build 



775-790] virgil's jsneid. book vi 221 

Momentum, Gabii, and the city Fidena ; these 
on the mountains shall raise the Collatine 
towers, Pometia, the fort of Inuus, Bola, and 
Cora. These shall then be famous names; 
now they are lands without names. Fur- 
ther, martial Romulus, whom Ilia of the line 
Assaracus shall bear, shall add himself as 
companion to his grandsire [Numitor]. See 
you not how the double plumes stand on 
his head erect, and how the father of the 
gods himself already marks him out with his 
distinguished honors! Lo, my son, under 
his auspicious influence Home, that city of 
renown, shall measure her dominion by the 
earth, and her valor by the skies, and that 
one city shall for herself wall around seven 
strong hills, happy in a race of heroes; like 
mother Berecynthia, when, crowned with tur- 
rets, she rides in her chariot through the 
Phrygian towns, joyful in a progeny of gods, 
embracing a hundred grandchildren, all in- 
habitants of heaven, all seated in the high 
celestial abodes. This way now bend both 
your eyes; view this lineage, and your own 
Eomans. This is Caesar, and these are the 
whole race of lulus, who shall one day rise 
to the spacious axle of the sky. This, this 
is the man whom you have often heard prom- 
ised to you, Augustus Caesar, the offspring 
of a god; who once more shall establish the 
golden age in Latium, through those lands 
where Saturn reigned of old, and shall ex- 



222 virgil's .eneid. book vi [797-817 

tend his empire over the Garamantes and 
Indians: their land lies without the signs 
[of the zodiac], beyond the sun's annual 
course, where Atlas, supporting heaven on 
his shoulders, turns the axle studded witli 
flaming stars. Against his approach even 
now both the Caspian realms and the land 
about the Palus Mseotis are dreadfully dis- 
mayed at the responses of the gods, and the 
quaking mouths of seven-fold Nile hurry on 
their troubled waves. Even Hercules did 
not run over so many countries, though he 
transfixed the brazen-footed hind, quelled the 
forests of Erymanthus, and made Lerna 
tremble with his bow: nor Bacchus, who in 
triumph drives his car with reins wrapped 
about with vine leaves, driving the tigers 
from ISTyssa's lofty top. And doubt we yet 
to extend our glory by our deeds? or is fear 
a bar to our settling in the Ausonian land ? 
But who is he at a distance, distinguished 
by the olive boughs, bearing the sacred uten- 
sils? I know the locks and hoary beard of 
the Eoman king, who first shall establish 
this city by laws, sent from little Cures and 
a poor estate to vast empire. Whom Tullus 
shall next succeed, who shall break the peace 
of his country, and rouse to arms his inactive 
subjects, and troops now unused to triumphs. 
Whom follows next vain-glorious Ancus, even 
now too much rejoicing in the breath of 
popular applause. Will you also see the Tar- 



818-839] VIRGIL'S ^JNEID. BOOK VI 223 

quin kings, and the haughty soul of Brutus, 
the avenger [of his country's wrongs], and 
the recovered fasces? He first shall receive 
the consular power, and the axe of justice 
inflexibly severe; and the sire shall, for the 
sake of glorious liberty, summon to death 
his own sons, raising an unknown kind of 
war. Unhappy he! however posterity shall 
interpret that action, love to his country, and 
the unbounded desire of praise, will [prevail 
over paternal affection] . See besides at some 
distance the Decii, Drusi, Torquatus, in- 
flexibly severe with the axe, and Camillus 
recovering the standards. But those [two] 
ghosts whom you observe to shine in equal 
arms, in perfect friendship now, and while 
they remain shut up in night, ah ! what war, 
what battles and havoc will they between 
them raise, if once they have attained to the 
light of life ! the father-in-law descending 
from the Alpine hills, and the tower of Mo- 
ncecus ; the son-in-law furnished with the 
troops of the east to oppose him. Make not, 
my sons, make not such [unnatural] wars 
familiar to your minds ; nor turn the power- 
ful strength of your country against its 
bowels. And thou, [Caesar,] first forbear, 
thou who derivest thy origin from heaven; 
fling those arms out of thy hand, thou, 
my own blood ! That one, having triumphed 
over Corinth, shall drive his chariot victori- 
ous to the lofty Capitol, illustrious from the 



224 VIKGIL S iENEID. BOOK VI [840-860 

slaughter of Greeks. The other shall over- 
throw Argos, and Mycenae, Agamemnon's 
seat, and Eacides himself, the descendant of 
valorous Achilles; avenging his Trojan an- 
cestors, and the violated temple of Minerva. 
Who can in silence pass over thee, great Cato, 
or thee, Cossus? who the family of Grac- 
chus, or both the Scipios, those two thunder- 
bolts of war, the bane of Africa, and Fabri- 
cius in low fortune exalted? or thee, Ser- 
ranus, sowing in the furrow [which thy own 
hands had made] ? Whither, ye Fabii, do 
you hurry me tired? Thou art that [Fabius 
justly styled] the Greatest, who alone shall 
repair our state by delay. Others, I grant 
indeed, shall with more delicacy mold the 
breathing brass; from marble draw the fea- 
tures to the life ; plead causes better ; describe 
with the rod the courses of the heavens, 
and explain the rising stars: to rule the 
nations with imperial sway be thy care, 
Eomans; these shall be thy arts; to impose 
terms of peace, to spare the humbled, and 
crush the proud. 

Thus father Anchises, and, as they are 
wondering, subjoins: Behold how adorned 
with triumphal spoils Marcellus stalks along, 
and shines victor above the heroes all ! He, 
mounted on his steed, shall prop the Eoman 
state in the rage of a formidable insurrec- 
tion ; the Carthaginians he shall humble, and 
the rebellious Gaul, and dedicate to father 



861-881] virgil's ^bneid. book vi 225 

Quirinus the third spoils. And upon this 
jEneas [says] ; for he beheld marching with 
him a youth distinguished by his beauty 
and shining arms, but his countenance of 
little joy, and his eyes sunk and dejected: 
What youth is he, father, who thus accom- 
panies the hero as he walks? is he a son, 
or one of the illustrious line of his descend- 
ants? What bustling noise of attendants 
round him ! How great resemblance in him 
[to the other] ! but sable Night with her 
dreary shade hovers around his head. Then 
father Anchises, while tears gushed forth, 
began: Seek not, my son, [to know] the 
deep disaster of thy kindred ; him the Fates 
shall just show on earth, nor suffer long to 
exist. Ye gods, Kome's sons had seemed too 
powerful in your eyes, had these your gifts 
been permanent. What groans of heroes 
shall that field near the imperial city of 
Mars send forth! what funeral pomp shall 
you, Tiberinus, see, when you glide by his 
recent tomb ! Neither shall any youth of the 
Trojan line in hope exalt the Latin fathers 
so high; nor shall the land of Eomulus ever 
glory so much in any of her sons. Ah piety ! 
ah that faith of ancient times ! and that right 
hand invincible in war ! none with impunity 
had encountered him in arms, either when 
on foot he rushed upon the foe, or when he 
pierced with his spur his foaming courser's 
flanks. Ah youth, meet subject for pity ! if 



226 VIRGIl/s iENEID. BOOK VI [882-302 

by any means thou canst burst rigorous fate, 
thou shalt be a Marcellus. Give me lilies in 
handfuls; let me strew the blooming flowers; 
these offerings at least let me heap upon my 
descendant's shade, and discharge this un- 
availing duty. Thus up and down they roam 
through all the [Elysian] regions in spacious 
airy fields, and survey every object : through 
each of whom when Anchises had conducted 
his son, and fired his soul with the love of 
coming fame, he next recounts to the hero 
what wars he must hereafter wage, informs 
him of the Laurentine people, and of the 
city of Latinus, and by what means he may 
shun or surmount every toil. 

Two gates there are of Sleep, whereof the 
one is said to be of horn ; by which an easy 
egress is given to true visions; the other 
shining, wrought of white ivory; but 
[through it] the infernal gods send up false 
dreams to the upper world. When Anchises 
had addressed this discourse to his son and 
the Sibyl together, and dismissed them by 
the ivory gate, the hero speeds his way to 
the ships, and revisits his friends ; then steers 
directly along the coast for the port of 
Caieta: where, [when he had arrived,] the 
anchor is thrown out from the forecastle, the 
sterns rest upon the shore. 



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